The Champion and The Professor
by Angelbutterfly789
Summary: Serena made a promise to wait for her one and only love Professor Sycamore, but will two years of waiting pay off for her? Rating M for a later Chapter!
1. Chapter 1

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter One

"Pro…Profess…Professor…I…l…love…you…" muttered a young woman in her sleep as she rolled over to her left side. A blush plastered itself on her face as she continued her slumber.

'"_You what?" asked Professor Sycamore, as he stared at Serena with a mixture of surprised and embarrassment on his face. _

_Serena looked down at the ground for a moment to gather her thoughts before she answered him. "I…I love you! I have since the day we first met in Lumiose City. When I saw you standing in your laboratory waiting for me, I felt my face flush up and my heart skip a beat," she replied, keeping her hands clenched up against her chest, her face reddening at her own words. _

_A moment of silence filled the air around them as they stood next to the Anistar City sundial. A chilly evening air fluttered by as Serena waited for the Professor to respond to her feelings. But after more time passed them by, she began to feel scared that he didn't feel the same way for her; that her decision to share her feelings was wrong._

_A tear streamed down her face as he turned his back to her. "I KNOW I'M NOT OF AGE YET, BUT WHEN I AM I WANT US TO BE TOGETHER!" she exclaimed, crying uncontrollably. _

_Professor Sycamore turned around suddenly as Serena continued to bawl loudly, rubbing her eyes frantically. He walked over to her, closing the gap between them and pulled her into a deep and loving hug. "Serena, please don't cry Ma Cherie," he said as she stopped crying and looked up at him curiously. He smiled down at her for a moment before cupping her face in his hands. As he bent his face down to hers as she asked, "Do you love me too?" At that moment his lips connected with hers in response to her question, as she reached up to his face. He grunted as he felt her hands brush lightly against his face as she moaned lightly while his hands slowly ran down her back. _

_But as soon as they had begun their kissing, he pulled away and said, "Oui. And when you are of age, please come see me at my laboratory so we can continue this properly." _

_She felt a sudden shudder flutter throughout her body when he said that before she said, "Ok, I promise."'_

"SERENA! IT'S TIME TO GET UP! DON'T MAKE ME SEND TALLONFLAME UP THERE!" exclaimed Serena's mother from the downstairs kitchen cooking Serena's breakfast. Her mother had been worried about her daughter ever since she returned home exhausted from battling trainers non-stop up at the Kalos Pokemon League.

It had been two years since Serena became the Kalos region's Champion as well as the night that she confessed her feelings to Professor Sycamore at the Anistar City sundial. With her eighteenth birthday coming up in three days, she had a lot to think about as she stayed with her mother in Vaniville Town.

"Ugh! I don't want to get up!" she moaned angrily from her bed, pulling her blankets up to her face.

"I know you want to keep on dreaming about your lover boy Professor, but its time to get up! Or should I just eat all of this food and let Tallonflame blow you out of bed?" her mother asked, as a crashing sound resonated from Serena's room and travelled down the stairs to the kitchen.

"I WAS NOT DREAMING ABOUT HIM AGAIN!" Serena exclaimed, stomping around the kitchen before settling herself at the counter with her breakfast.

"Again?" her mother asked, a mischievous smile creeping on her face as Serena's face began to burn red at realizing her mistake. She choked on her toast as her mother burst out laughing. "Oh relax sweetheart! I'm just teasing you! But you really need to not talk in your sleep if you don't want me to poke fun at you," her mother said, patting Serena on the back to help her cough up her toast. Serena said nothing to her mother but instead threw a menacing scowl at her as she continued to eat her breakfast. "It's been three weeks since you came back home and you STILL haven't told me why," her mother said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Alright alright, I'll tell you as long as you STOP making fun of me. You're supposed to be my mother not my sibling!" Serena said, taking a sip of her glass of Razz Berry juice. Her mother leaned against the edge of the counter, waiting for Serena to finally tell her why she came home randomly one night. Serena finished her juice then said, "At first I came home because I'm stuck in a rut with being the Kalos League Champion. I don't find it very challenging when I can defeat every trainer that comes my way with a single hit. I even tried to switch to my lower level Pokemon and I can still knock out a trainer. Plus its really boring just sitting up in the Champion's room all alone until a new trainer comes by."

"What about the members of the Elite Four? Don't they visit you?" her mother asked inquisitively.

"No, not any more. They used to at first but now they just stay in their rooms. I've asked them before if they hate me or something but they all said that they didn't hate me, they just couldn't take me out anywhere they went because of my age," Serena replied, taking a bite of her last piece of toast. 

"Well there you go then! Everything will be resolved when you turn eighteen in three days!" her mother exclaimed happily.

"Yeah but I still feel bad for my opponents. I remember being like them and working really hard to take on the Elite Four and Diantha, it was an amazing thrill but hurts most when you loose," Serena said as a sudden thought dawned on her. "DARN IT! I NEED TO TALK TO DIANTHA ABOUT SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT!"

Serena ran to her room frantically looking for her strappy purple purse, digging through it looking for her Holo Caster. "AHA! THERE IT IS!" she exclaimed, finally finding it in the very bottom of her purse. She turned it on and dialled out to Diantha's Holo Caster.

"Oh! Well hello there Champion Serena!" said Diantha as a holographic image version of her lit up Serena's room suddenly.

"Hi Diantha. Listen can I ask you a favor?" Serena asked, while also trying to collect her thoughts.

"What is it dear?" Diantha asked worriedly. Just then another voice sounded out on Diantha's end of the conversation saying, "Who's that? Is it Rina?" Serena knew that voice all too well to belong to her friend Shauna.

As quickly as she had heard Shauna's voice Serena was soon face to face with her friend through Diantha's Holo Caster. "Hey Rina! You look different. Where are you and why does you hair look so ratty?" Shauna asked, eyeing Serena carefully.

"I'm staying at my moms house for now and I just got up," she replied, grabbing her hair and pushing it down flat. Again more voices joined in on the conversation from Diantha's Holo Caster, this time all of them being male voices. "Hey Rina!" "Rina! How's it hanging?" "How come you didn't tell me you were home Rina? We are neighbours after all!" Serena laughed embarrassedly at the Holo Caster but was pulled out of her laughter by a smooth, French male voice suddenly. "Serena? Mon Ami? Is that you?" All of the other voices stopped chattering at his words and before Serena could even come close to flattening out her hair, the image of Professor Sycamore took over from Diantha and Shauna.

"Y…yes…h…hello Professor," she managed to squeak out while holding her hair down bashfully.

"You don't need to be so formal with me, Mon Ami! Please call me by my first name, Augustine," he said happily.

Serena felt her face redden at his words as she thought about all the times she would use his name while she would touch herself at night. To use his name in a casual conversation seemed embarrassing for her. She wrapped a strand of hair around her finger embarrassedly before saying, "O…ok…Augustine…how have you been?" Just then a thought hit her as she asked, "Wait! If you guys are all together, where are you right now?"

Professor Sycamore put a finger up to his face in thought at her question before answering, "We're at a café in Aquacorde Town." But before he could say any more, Serena blurted out, "Stay there! I'll be right over! Just give me…ten minutes to get dressed!" She then turned off her Holo Caster and began to race around her room, frantically looking for something to wear.

With all the crashing and yelling coming from her daughter's room, Serena's mother thought her daughter had evolved into a Gyarados. "What is with all that commotion up there?!" her mother exclaimed angrily, walking over to the staircase just as Serena ran down at her. "Sorry mom! But I have to go! I just found out that my friends, Diantha and Professor Sycamore are just one town over and I need to get over there right away!" Serena exclaimed as she ran down the stairs, passed her mother, stopping at the door for a moment to get her boots on. She snapped her rollerblades to the bottom of her boots before slinging her purse over her left shoulder. She put her hat on and opened the front door as her mother said, "Be careful sweetie!" "I will! See you in a while mom!" Serena said, happily skating off down the front pathway of her house and down the way to Route One.

"Hey guys!" she exclaimed as she ground her skates to a halt just inside the Aquacorde Town gates, waving excitedly to the group before her. She unlatched the roller skates off of her boots before walking over to her friends. Shauna waved excitedly to Serena as Serena took in the scene before her. Tierno had his Pokemon dancing team out of their Pokeballs showing off their moves with Trevor watching them happily. They all stopped their performance as Serena walked over to the table. Calem sat at the table next to Shauna smiling happily as Serena stopped at the head of the table next to where Diantha and Professor Sycamore sat smiling just as happily at her.

"Mon Ami Serena! You made it! And on time too!" Professor Sycamore exclaimed glancing at his watch for a moment before standing up from his seat. He walked over to Serena smiling happily, both of his arms extended out at her as her face began to heat up. _'If I don't hug him, everyone will know something is up between us,'_ she thought as she looked up at him for a moment before helping him close the gap between them. She wrapped her arms around his slender waist, as she felt her face heat up hotter than ever. Before anyone could see her face, she pulled him to her roughly, burying her face in his chest. He let his hands rest on the small of her back causing her to squeak suddenly in the open part of his shirt.

"Don't worry I won't do anything to you until you've come of age, Ma Cherie," he whispered to her forehead before placing a small quick kiss upon it. He rested his chin on the top of her head as he said, "I promise, I will be very sensitive to your needs and make sure you are safe just as you are now." She looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling happily as his gray-blue eyes looked to her warmly. _'I love this girl. I don't care what other people will think or say about our relationship. I just hope she feels the same way about me. I'm going to make her birthday a day, and night, to remember,' _he thought as he tightened his grip on her waist.

"Oh Augustine, I can't wait until my birthday comes," she said, snuggling closer to his chest again, smiling happily as he hugged her back.

"AHEM!" Diantha exclaimed to the happy couple in front of her as everyone else gawked at them with their mouths wide open. Serena quickly peeled herself away from Professor Sycamore embarrassedly as Calem exclaimed, "SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU TWO BEEN TOGETHER?!" Everyone else stood in absolute silence waiting for Serena to explain what was happening at that moment.

"Ok, ok. Well everything happened like this," Serena said, motioning everyone back to the table they were all sitting at upon her arrival. Her friends obliged to her, sat down at their seats and listened with baited breath as she recounted the night she confessed her feelings to Professor Sycamore.

After what felt like an eternity passed by, Serena's story came to an end with her friends still gawking at her, while Professor Sycamore placed a hand on hers reassuringly. "Alright, go on. Tell me your worst opinions about this," she said, sadly looking down at her lap, her hands balling up into fists on her lap. Professor Sycamore moved his hand away from hers as he looked to her friends as he thought, _'They don't agree with our union. She's going to break down if they don't say anything I just know it.' _

"WELL ITS ABOUT TIME!" exclaimed Tierno and Trevor at the same time. Serena stared at her friends uncertainly before asking, "What do you mean?"

"Well, that day we all met up at Professor Sycamore's lab, we all noticed something about the way you were presenting yourself," replied Calem for his friends.

"Yeah! I thought I was going to see you get a nosebleed every time the Professor would speak to you," Shauna said, nodding thoughtfully.

Serena kept her face hidden from her friends as she thought back to the day Shauna and Calem spoke of. A smile crept onto her face as she grabbed hold of Professor Sycamore's hand once more, squeezing it tightly. He looked to her thoughtfully as she finally looked up at him first before turning her attention to her friends. "Alright you got me. But are you guys ok with, well," she began as she quickly looked to Professor Sycamore embarrassedly before continuing, "Are you guys ok with Augustine and I being together after I'm of age?"

"Of course we are!" Shauna exclaimed happily as everyone else nodded in agreement.

Diantha took a sip of her tea before saying, "I'm especially happy that Augustine FINALLY found some one to love. And here I thought you'd be married to that lab of yours instead of finding a woman." She grinned from her tea cup as he scowled at her.

"I'm glad," Serena said, choking back tears before continuing, "I'm glad that you guys, my friends, approve of this. I honestly didn't know what to do if you guys were opposed to it." She stood up from the table as everyone watched her bow in front of them while saying, "Thank you so much! I love you guys too!"

Serena's friends, Diantha and Professor Sycamore all smiled back happily but then a thought occurred to Calem making him ask, "What about your Pokemon? Do they approve too?" Serena stood up straight and thought for a moment about what Calem just asked her. But then her Pokemon released themselves out of their PokeBalls and stood in front of the group of people, each of them smiling happily, with Mewtwo being the only one nodding thoughtfully.

"Looks like there's your answer Calem," said Professor Sycamore as he pointed to Serena's Pokemon happily.

"You guys approve of this too?" Serena asked in a daze as she walked over to her Pokemon, who continued to smile happily at their trainer.

"Chari!" exclaimed her Charizard happily. "Ban! Greni! Phan! Lap!" chimed in the rest of her team, with Mewtwo continuing to nod thoughtfully.

Serena burst out into a run at her team with her arms outstretched happily as they met her mid-run for a group hug. "I love you guys too," she said, smiling happily while a few tears of joy ran down her face.

As Diantha watched the happy scene in front of her, a thought hit her suddenly. "Oh! Serena darling, wasn't there something you wanted to talk about with me? Hence the initial call on my Holo Caster earlier which led to you meeting us here?" she asked as Serena pulled herself away from hugging her Pokemon.

Serena stood thinking for a moment about Diantha's question then realized that she had forgotten about why she originally rushed over to her friends. She returned her Pokemon to their respective Pokeballs, turned to face her friends and said, "Yeah, sorry about that! Got caught up in the moment." She scratched the back of her head bashfully before walking back to her seat at the table. She sat in her chair as Professor Sycamore took up her right hand in his left, smiling happily to her. She smiled back before turning her attention to Diantha.

"I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to come back to the Pokemon League as it's Champion," she said, dreading hearing a negative answer from the once proud Kalos League Champion.

"Why do you want to give it back to me after two years of holding it?" Diantha asked as everyone else looked to Serena thoughtfully.

Serena looked to everyone sadly before replying, "Well I'm just getting tired of beating every trainer that comes my way. I feel really bad that I can't just throw the battle and let them win. I'd give anything to work a normal job somewhere else and not battle anymore."

Diantha nodded thoughtfully then said, "Hmm…I understand what you're saying but I can't just take it back. And if we battle, you'd probably win again."

"Why not battle Calem for it?" Shauna asked, grabbing Calem's hand and giving it a loving squeeze. Calem looked at Shauna, smiling sweetly then turned his attention to Serena. Serena mean while took notice of Shauna and Calem's display of affection and smiled happily at her friends. "That's actually a great idea! So long as Calem can beat you though," Diantha said, taking a final sip of her tea and placing it back on the table in front of her.

"Ok, but just a one on one match. And we can choose each other's Pokemon just to be fair," Serena said, standing up from her seat as Calem followed suit.

"OH! I'll do commentary!" exclaimed Shauna excitedly jumping up from her seat.

"And Augustine and I will be the judges!" Diantha said, standing up from her chair while clasping her left hand on his right shoulder, gripping it suggestively. He looked to Diantha's hand then up to her face, smiling warmly to her before saying, "Sounds like fun, I'm in." He stood up from his seat, grabbing Diantha's hand and pulled it off his shoulder.

Serena watched Professor Sycamore and Diantha's exchange as she felt a slight 'pang' of pain in her chest. _'I know they've been friends for years, but are they more than that? Is he just leading me on to spare my feelings? Now I don't want my birthday to come,' _she thought as Professor Sycamore turned his attention to her, smiling just as warmly to Serena as he had with Diantha. She brought a balled up fist up to her chest and looked at the ground sadly. Professor Sycamore looked at Serena's sad expression and wondered what had brought her down suddenly.

"Serena? Mon Amour? Are you ok?" he asked her, grabbing her right hand with both of his. She quickly pulled her hand away from him before he could even come close to touching her. She smiled weakly at him before replying, "I'm ok, thank you for asking." She walked away from him, leaving him standing by the table with a mixture of sadness and confusion. "Now lets get this battle started!" she said, trying to steady her heart with a new topic.

'_Does she hate me? No! That can't be it!' _Professor Sycamore thought desperately as he looked over to Diantha for a moment. _'Did she see Diantha grab my shoulder? Is she jealous of Diantha? That must be it! She's not even looking at Diantha while Diantha is telling her and Calem the rules to this match. Oh Serena, I love you not Diantha. And Diantha knows how much I love you. I can't wait for your birthday to come now, I will spend that day, and night, proving my love to you I swear it,'_ he thought, determinedly as he stood next to Diantha, ready to judge his lover's Pokemon match.

"Bon chance Mon Amour!" he said, happily waving at her as Diantha threw him a scowl.

"Ok, you're not judging," she said to him as he looked at her dejectedly.

"What?! Pour quoi pas?!" he asked with a hurt tone to his voice.

"Because it's a match between your lover and her friend. You're too close to her to judge her in a match. Now go on back to the table with Shauna, Tierno and Trevor!" Diantha said, shooing him away.

He took a moment to think about it then looked over to Serena who had begun to laugh at him. "Oh Augustine, she does have a point," Serena said, smiling happily at him which brought warmth to his heart once again. _'I love it when she smiles,'_ he thought as he walked away from Diantha and sat back at the table with the other kids.

"Alright! Let's do this battle!" Serena exclaimed, determination laced itself in her voice as she held her Pokeball at the ready. Calem did the same as they began their battle.


	2. Chapter 2

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Two

"AND BANETTE GOES DOWN! THAT WAS ONE HECK OF A MATCH BETWEEN CALEM'S ALTARIA AND RINA'S BANETTE!" exclaimed Shauna as the end of Calem and Serena's match came to pass. The morning had turned to afternoon as they had their battle as a crowd of Aquacordians formed to watch. But as soon as the crowd formed around the trainers, another battle ensued with the Aquacordians fighting with each other about which trainer was the better one. Eventually they split themselves into two factions one for Serena, and another for Calem. But as Banette took its last hit of Dragon Rage, even in its Mega form, just couldn't measure up to Altaria's power and hit the ground with a 'thud!'.

"Banette is unable to battle any longer! Calem is the winner and the Kalos League's newest Champion!" exclaimed Diantha, as Calem's fans cheered loudly, leaving Serena's fans hanging their heads sadly.

"WAHOO!" exclaimed Serena happily as everyone around looked at her with confusion etching itself on all of their faces. She jumped up and down ecstatically while throwing her right fist into the air as Professor Sycamore smiled happily at her. He then took notice of how her body moved, her breasts bouncing inside her shirt just as vigorously as the rest of her body. He felt his manhood bunch up inside his pants as he thought, _'Her body is so beautiful. I would give anything to have her right now!'. _He slapped himself mentally as he continued his train of thought, _'NO! Not right now! Later! I'll have her later! She's still not of age yet! Get it together Augustine!'._

But as Professor Sycamore made up his mind about her, Serena excitedly ran over to where he sat and plastered herself to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders while also pulling his head into her chest; causing his pants to grow tighter around his bulge. She kissed the top of his head before saying, "Oh Augustine! I lost! I'm so happy to have lost! Now I can live my life the way I want to without having any responsibilities at all!"

"I'm glad you're happy Ma Cherie," he managed to say though muffled a bit by her breasts. He looked up at her and tried to smile happily to her before asking, "May I have some breathing room please?"

She looked down at him inquisitively but then felt her face flare up instantly as she realised that she was smothering him with her chest. She let him go immediately, turning her back to him as she hoped that no one else had seen that.

Professor Sycamore stood up from his seat, right behind Serena, wrapped his arms and his lab coat around her and asked, "I'm glad you're happy about loosing but what are you going to do now? I know your Pokedex is nearly full, so I guess you could continue to travel around?" He took her hat off for a moment to plant a kiss on the top of her head as Shauna and the others managed to pull themselves away from Calem's fans and walk over to Serena and Professor Sycamore.

"So Rina, what are you going to do now?' asked Shauna inquisitively, stopping in front of her friend as Professor Sycamore put Serena's hat back on her head. The others stopped too, waiting for Serena's answer.

Serena looked up to Professor Sycamore then over to her friends; thinking hard about their mutual question. "I don't know what to do now," she said to everyone as Shauna folded her arms across her chest trying to think of something.

"We could team up and be the biggest Pokemon Dancing team in all of Kalos!" Tierno said happily, raising his right fist up into the air triumphantly.

Serena smiled weakly at her friend, as Calem suggested, "There are other regions out there. Why not travel to them? You know, to see the world?"

"That sounds like a good idea! I bet you could see a bunch of new Pokemon in those regions too," Trevor said excitedly as Serena began to nod thoughtfully at Calem's suggestion.

"Maybe I could go back home to Hoenn and try my luck at becoming a Pokemon Coordinator," she said, placing a finger on her chin thoughtfully.

Professor Sycamore felt a lump of sadness well up in his heart at her words as he thought, _'I hadn't thought about that. If she goes back to Hoenn, will she come back here? Am I going to loose her forever?' _He took a step back from her petite form, relinquishing his arms from her as she stopped her thinking and looked to him confusedly.

"Are you ok Augustine?" she asked, facing him straight on this time. Her bright green eyes looking to his gray blue trying to find an answer to her question, which made him much more emotionally weaker; just thinking about never seeing them again was painful.

"Oh, I'm ok Ma Cherie," he replied, as he tried to plant a weak smile on his face reassuringly. "You don't have to worry about me. I think it's a great idea for you to become a Pokemon Coordinator. Might be fun," he said trying to convince her while also trying to bury his true feelings on the matter.

She eyed him carefully, she knew something about that was bugging him, but decided to keep it to herself. "I'll think about it for now," she said, turning away from him and facing her friends again. "I just gained my freedom from responsibility! No need to run off and devote myself to something much more gruelling than being a Pokemon League Champion!" She turned back to Professor Sycamore, closed the gap between them, pulled him into a loving hug then saying, "I'm finally able to start my own life here on my terms. I'm not about to leave the love of my life behind just for something to do!" She flashed him a loving and endearing smile before turning said smile over to her friends. "Oh! And I don't want to leave you guys behind either!" She said as her friends all looked to her, each with their arms crossed and their right eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"Of course not," Calem said as the others nodded with a thoughtful angry undertone from behind him.

"Well if you don't want to do that, then why don't you work for Augustine?" Diantha asked as she walked over to the group after calling the Elite Four on her Holo Caster to inform them of the change of Champions. "Oh wait, come to think about it, that might be a bad idea too," she said, as she noticed both Professor Sycamore and Serena's faces glowing bright red at the thought of them working together.

"What do you mean Diantha? That might actually be a greater idea," Trevor said innocently.

Diantha shrugged her shoulders before saying, "Well if you think about it, they most likely wouldn't get any REAL work done if they're left alone." She pointed to the pair before continuing, "They know what I'm saying is true. Just look at their faces!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT DIANTHA!" exclaimed Serena and Professor Sycamore at the same time. They looked to each other wide eyed, as everyone else burst out laughing, with the exception of Shauna who suddenly exclaimed, "OH! That's it!"

The laughter died away steadily as Calem turned to Shauna and asked, "What's it?"

"I know what Rina can do until she decides on becoming a Pokemon Coordinator," Shauna replied, smacking her right fist in her left hand at her realization. "Last time I was in Lumiose City, I heard that the Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center across from Professor Sycamore's lab was looking for some help around the center," she continued excitedly.

"That might be a great idea! That way, we can still see each other and work in the same city," Professor Sycamore said happily as Serena looked up to him smiling warmly.

"Ok, its settled then! I'll have to make a trip to Lumiose City!" she said happily. "But first I need to get my Banette to the Healing House," Serena said, pulling out Banette's Pokeball from her purse before running off in the direction of the Healing House in the lower part of the town.

"And we're going to check out the shops," Shauna said, walking over to Tierno and Trevor.

"Are you gonna come with us Calem?" Trevor asked, as Shauna and Tierno started walking off to the potion shop.

Before Shauna got too far away from the rest of the group, she stopped walking with Tierno and ran back to Calem. She pulled him into a hug as he hugged her back and replied, "I'll be fine. I'll wait for you guys at the fountain." He looked at Shauna before continuing, "Just don't spend all of your money this time."

Shauna stomped her right foot on the ground angrily before saying, "I won't! It's not like we're in Lumiose City where I WOULD do that."

Calem chuckled lightly at her, placing a kiss on her forehead then saying, "I know you won't. I just can't help but worry a little bit." She looked to him with an angry scowl as he continued, "You're so pretty when you're angry." She blushed uncontrollably as Diantha smiled happily to the young couple.

"Ah young love! So sweet!" she said, as Professor Sycamore smiled just as happily to them before walking off to the fountain.

He sat down on the edge of the fountain watching Calem and Shauna as he thought, _'I'm glad they're dating, they are the same age and all. But should I really be with Serena? Even though she is beautiful, smart and an amazing trainer, she is much younger than I am.' _Just then an image of Serena's happy, smiling face invaded his mind, causing him to blush a little bit. _'Age shouldn't matter should it? As long as I love her, and she loves me, that's all that really matters. But, still should we really be together? I'm so confused!' _He thought, as he placed his face in his hands, feeling defeated with his feelings.

Diantha walked over to the fountain, sat next to him before asking, "So, what's going on in that head of yours?" He looked at her confusedly as she continued, "I know your thinking face Augustine. You can tell me what you're thinking about."

After Shauna finally walked away from Calem and met up with the other two boys at the potion shop, Calem walked over to pair at the fountain. He took a seat next to them as he said, "So you and Serena are going to be together more often." Professor Sycamore looked to Calem thoughtfully for a moment before simply nodding his reply.

"I just don't know if I should be with her," he said, looking at the ground sadly as Calem and Diantha looked at him confusedly.

"What are you talking about Augustine?" Diantha asked uncertainly to his back.

"Are you having second thoughts about your feelings?" Calem asked, just as uncertainly as Diantha. When Professor Sycamore wouldn't respond to Calem's question, Calem continued, "Because if you are, you have two options. Option one is to just leave and never talk to her again, crushing her heart to dust. Or you have option two, and that is to tell her directly that its over, forever."

Professor Sycamore's head shot up suddenly, thinking about what Calem said. After a moment of deep thought he said, "I don't ever want to hurt her. I love her more than anything in the world."

Diantha smacked him on the back before saying, "There you go! Problem solved! You love her and don't want to hurt her."

"Yes, I don't want to hurt her. But I also don't want to hold her back," he said, sadly looking to the ground again.

"Hold her back? What are you talking about? You were the one that gave her a Pokedex and sent her on her mission for your research. You did that for all of us," Calem said still confused by the Professor's sudden sadness.

"Wait, is this about that conversation we all had a few moments ago? The one where she nearly warmed up to the thought of going back to the Hoenn region to be a Pokemon Coordinator?" Diantha asked as the Professor nodded sadly.

"It was my fault that she said that she'd think about going instead of jumping completely at the idea," he said. "If it wasn't for my selfishness at that moment, she could continue to live her life the way she wants to! Because that's what I really want for her! I want her to be happy not only with me, but with herself on her terms!" he exclaimed, throwing his head back in anguish.

"Augustine," said a soft voice across the way, coming from just outside of the Healing House. The Professor knew that voice well to belong to the love of his life as she walked over to her friends and her lover. He felt his heart lighten as he listened to her soft foot steps on the ground and watched her hips swaying as she walked. Her face softened as she stopped in front of him, her right hand resting on his face while the other hand rested lightly on his shoulder. "I admit, I wouldn't mind trying something new in a different region. But I didn't say what I said before because of your selfishness," she said, smiling sweetly to him as her thumb on her right hand began to softly rub his cheek.

He looked at her uncertainly before asking, "Then why did you say that you'd think about it?"

"It was because of the sadness in your eyes. Your eyes are too perfect to harbour such sadness, Augustine," she replied simply. "I also said what I had to as I was really just saving face for my friends," she continued, turning her attention to Calem and Diantha for a moment. "I'm sorry for lying to you guys, but three weeks ago I decided that I would try and give up being the Kalos League Champion. To exchange the life I trained for, for a life I wanted to live for with the only person I know and love the most," she said first to her friends, then finished by turning her attention back to Professor Sycamore.

"Why did it take you three weeks to get a hold of Diantha then?!" Calem asked, angrily jumping from his seat on the fountain. "If you were so certain on what you wanted to do, then why did you wait so long?!"

"Well it was due to a multitude of things to be honest," she said, scratching the back of her head bashfully with her left hand. "Depression, sadness, tiredness, fear…all those things just piled themselves in my mind until…well this morning really," she said, as she pulled her right hand away from Professor Sycamore's face and bopped herself on the head.

"Serena," Professor Sycamore said softly as she turned her attention back to him, smiling warmly all the while.

"I love you Augustine. I really do and I'd much rather stay by your side for all eternity than run away from you," she said as bent her face down to his, planting a deep kiss on his lips; her tongue slowly easing its way inside his mouth.

His eyes widened in surprise at the sudden contact of her lips against his, a small groan managed to escape their intertwined mouths as their tongues finally met each other once again. But as soon as they started their kissing, he had pulled his mouth from hers and stood in front of her, smiling and blushing like a mad man. He looked into her eyes lovingly as he said, "Je T'aime Ma Cherie. I never want to loose you to anything or anyone, I hope that doesn't sound bad."

She chuckled as her face had flared up just as much as his, especially after hearing him speak in his natural Kalosian accent; she LOVED it when he'd use it to convey his true feelings. "No Augustine, that actually sounds wonderfully fantastic to me. I would never be the same without you. I thank my lucky stars every day that my mom and I moved here two years ago," she said, moving to rest her head against his chest. But before she could get close to him, he snaked his hands down her back while lightly brushing passed her buttocks to rest for a moment just underneath it; his fingers dangerously close to her entrance inside her skirt. He flashed her a quick smile as she squeaked at his touch. He tightened his grip on her legs, scooping her up into his arms, chuckling happily as she continued to squeak in surprise.

In the sudden confusion of being picked up, she felt her hat slip off her head and float over to stop in front of Shauna as Shauna and the boys rejoined the group at the fountain. Shauna walked over to Calem, holding Serena's hat as she watched the Professor and her friend laugh together before kissing each other lovingly. "I see we didn't miss much," she said leaning to rest her head on Calem's shoulder, smiling happily to the couple in front of them. "No not a bit," Calem said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

Tierno stepped forward and asked, "Hey Rina, why don't we all head back to Lumiose City so you can apply for your job at the Pokemon Center?"

Serena and Professor Sycamore pulled away from their heated kiss to look over at Tierno; Professor Sycamore putting Serena down. She turned to face her friends as Professor Sycamore wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to his chest as she replied, "Ok but first I want to know why you guys are here anyway?" She crossed her arms across her voluptuous chest as she felt the Professor release his hold on her and take a step back.

"They wanted to see me," said a voice from the top of the stairs to the higher part of the town. Serena, Professor Sycamore, Diantha and Serena's friends looked up to see Serena's mother standing up at the top, two suit cases standing next to her left side while the family Ryhorn stood to her right side.

"Mom? But why do they want to see you?" Serena asked, stepping forward uncertainly.

"They wanted to see me because they wanted to know what you'd like for your birthday," her mother replied nonchalantly.

"Oooook…but why do you have our suitcases?" Serena asked uneasily.

"Oh! Diantha called me on that Holo Caster thing you bought me for my birthday last year. She told me about what you guys had talked about and I figured I'd tag along. So I quickly packed our bags and headed straight here," her mother replied, slinging herself up on top of the Ryhorn and rode it down the stairs to Serena and her friends.

Everyone turned their attention to Diantha Serena eyed her as she asked, "When did you call my mom? And how did you get my mom's number?"

"I called your mother while you and Augustine were otherwise, engaged with each other," Diantha began, raising an eyebrow mischievously. "And she added me right around the time you went home wallowing in self-pity. She said she asked you for it in the first place," she continued as a thought dawned on her. "Wow, you really were depressed weren't you?" she said, pointing to Serena at her realisation.

"So, you're the one my daughter moans about at night," said Serena's mother, walking over to the Professor and her daughter as everyone's faces flared up while Diantha burst out laughing; holding her sides.

Serena threw a glare at Diantha first, which made Diantha stop laughing in an instant. Serena then threw another glare, but this one was aimed squarely at her mother before she exclaimed, "MOM! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?!"

"What? Have you forgotten that I take joy picking on you?" her mother asked, poking Serena's nose playfully.

Serena continued to scowl at her mother but cut it short as she had a thought hit her. She turned to her friends, Diantha and the Professor asking, "How did you guys get here in the first place?"

"We each have our own flying Pokemon that flew us here, well with the exception of Shauna but she flew here with Calem on Altaria's back," Trevor said matter-of-factly.

"I flew here on my Dragonite," chimed in Diantha.

"And I flew here on my Charizard," Professor Sycamore chimed in too.

"Come on sweetie! Lets go to Lumiose City! I've only ever been there with you once before! I'll ride Ryhorn there so you don't have to worry about me!" Serena's mother said, nearly whining like a child.

Serena turned to her mother and her Ryhorn as she asked, "Are you sure that Ryhorn can make the trip?" Her mother's Ryhorn grumbled at Serena as she quickly added, "Don't get me wrong Ryhorn, you are still pretty strong but you haven't ever made the trip to Lumiose City. Mom did bring you that one time, but I think you would like to make the trip in your Pokeball right?" she said, kneeling down to be at Ryhorn's level, smiling sweetly at it as it looked away bashfully. "Ry! Ryhorn," said Ryhorn to Serena, who pet Ryhorn's horn gently before looking at her mother. "See! Even Ryhorn doesn't think that he can make it," she said, sitting next to Ryhorn as they both looked up at Serena's mother with puppy dog like eyes.

Her mother looked down at Serena and Ryhorn, folding her arms across her chest. She rolled her eyes at the cute pair below her before saying, "Fine! I'll fly there on Tallonflame! I hate it when you guys do that." She returned Ryhorn to its Pokeball before throwing out Tallonflame's Pokeball.

Serena stood up from where Ryhorn was a moment before as she said, "Alright then! Lets go to Lumiose City!" "YAY! LET'S GO!" exclaimed Shauna as everyone threw out their flying Pokemon from their Pokeballs.

After Serena threw out her Charizard, she grabbed her suitcase then turned around and walked over to the Professor. "I hope we can go to a restaurant together, like for a date, maybe," she said, bashfully bowing her head, as her left hand began to play with a strand of hair; her right hand running up and down the Professor's chest.

He felt goose bumps tingle across his skin at her touch as he cupped her face with his right hand and said, "I'd like that very much, Ma Cherie." He put his index finger under her chin, bringing her face up to his to kiss her gently. She reached her hands up to the back of his neck, pulling him into a slightly deeper kiss; completely forgetting about her mother standing just a few feet away.

"Ahh young love," said her mother, nodding to Diantha thoughtfully, who nodded back before mounting her Dragonite.

"Alright you two! You can continue that when we get there! Lets get to Lumiose City before night falls, yes?" Diantha said, everyone else sat on their Pokemon waiting for the lovers to peel themselves apart so they can leave Aquacorde Town behind them; and for Serena to begin her new life with her lover.


	3. Chapter 3

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Three

"LOOK! THERE'S LUMIOSE CITY! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" exclaimed Shauna excitedly from behind Calem's back; letting go of his waist for a moment to point to the glittering city before them.

"Shauna! I've told you many times already that you have to hold onto me at all times while we ride on Altaria's back!" Calem yelled out over the whipping night air as Shauna grabbed his waist again and held on tight.

"Yeah yeah! I know! I'm just so excited!" she yelled out before plastering her face to his back as if his back were a shield against the wind.

Serena flew up next to the couple on her Charizard and asked, "Why are you so excited?" Professor Sycamore and the others joined Serena's side, waiting to hear what Shauna has to say.

"I'm so excited because this is the first time that ALL of us have ever flown to Lumiose City together!" she said happily as everyone else smiled just as happily back.

"ACHOO!" Serena sneezed loudly, rubbing her nose with her right finger embarrassedly with everyone else watching her.

"Are you ok?" Professor Sycamore asked worriedly, flying his Charizard closer to hers.

She looked over to her lover as she said, "Yeah I'm fine! It's been a while since I've flown on Charizard's back, the cold evening air is doing a number to my sinuses!" She let out another loud sneeze as everyone's Pokemon began their decent.

"Wait! You didn't fly home?" Calem asked, as his Altaria landed softly on the ground just outside of Professor Sycamore's lab. Everyone else landed nearby, hopping off of their Pokemon and waited for Serena's answer to Calem's question.

"No, I walked and biked back," she said, returning Charizard to its Pokeball before pulling out a napkin and blowing her nose into it. Everyone else stared at her incredulously for a moment before she pulled the napkin away from her nose and continued, "I don't like to push Charizard too much unless it's for battling other trainers."

Serena let out one last sneeze into her napkin before her mother stepped forward and asked, "Are you sure you're ok dear?" She placed her right hand on Serena's forehead as she continued, "Hmm, you don't feel very warm. So I guess you're ok, but if you start to feel any worse you let me know! I am your mother after all!" She retracted her hand from Serena, placing her hands on her hips as Serena pouted at her mother. "I'll be fine mom! I'm not a little girl anymore!" she said as Professor Sycamore flashed her a smile, causing her to blush suddenly.

"Are you sure you guys haven't done anything yet?" her mother asked, eyeing the pair on either side of her for a moment. "Yes mom! We haven't done anything yet! When will you stop being so perverted?!" Serena exclaimed angrily before turning away from her mother and faced Professor Sycamore's lab.

"I can't believe its been so long since we've all been here together," she said thoughtfully as a light evening breeze blew through her hair causing a strand to lightly dance across her face for a moment. Still standing in front of the lab in awe, she brought her hand up to brush the strand of hair from her face. Professor Sycamore watched her for a moment, feeling a blush creep up on his face as he took in her innocent form. He walked over to stand beside her, looking up at his lab before saying, "Yes, to think that it's been just over two years since that day when we all met for the first time." He looked to her, smiling fondly before continuing, "That day will always be the one day I will cherish for the rest of my life." She looked up at him as their eyes met for a brief moment before he turned to face the rest of the group behind them.

"I've always enjoyed thinking back to that day, and not just because of Serena, but because of all of you. You five are the best group of trainers I have ever had the honour of meeting, and I'm glad that you have done your very best at becoming such upstanding and respected trainers," he said smiling happily to each of them in turn.

"It's an honour and privilege to have met you too Professor!" Shauna said excitedly, grabbing Calem's left hand as Calem merely nodded in agreement. Serena looked to Calem, wondering why Calem didn't say anything, nor look directly at the Professor.

Serena's attention was pulled away from Calem and moved on to Tierno as he said, "My Pokemon dancing team thanks you too Professor!"

"And you'll be happy to know Professor that after my brief trip to the Unova Region, my Pokedex is nearly full! And its because of your Professor, you gave me a purpose in life! Thank you so much Professor!" Trevor said, happily clamping both of his hands together in front of his face before bowing jovially.

Professor Sycamore shrugged his shoulders while smiling happily to them and said, "I'm happy that you all have found enjoyment on your respective journeys." He turned his attention over to Serena and asked, "What is it that you enjoyed about your journey, Ma Cherie?"

Serena's face brightened at hearing his Kalosian accent before answering, "Well…other than falling in love with you, I found that there is more to life than just doing what one thinks is right. I learned that in order to pursue one's goals, there can be some room given to recklessness that, in some cases can be bad, but in others can be good too." She took her purse off of her right shoulder and held it close to her chest lovingly. "I love my Pokemon, both here as my team, and in my PC storage boxes." she said, slinging her purse back over her right shoulder. "And I love you guys too," she continued, smiling warmly to her friends. "I feel that you are all a part of my family and I'm glad that I met each of you that day," she said happily. She brought her arms and hands together in front of herself, tilted her body to the right and said, "I hope that we can be friends forever."

Everyone smiled happily to her, admiration showing on each of their faces with the exception of Calem, a light blush playing on his face instead. Serena thought she had seen that very same blush on his face but thought better of it as her mother stepped forward and said, "That was a great speech sweetie!" She stretched her arms above her head before continuing, "I don't know about the rest of you guys but I'm tired! Where is that hotel you worked at for a brief time sweetie?"

"Oh its in the North Boulevard area. Hotel Richissime, the best hotel in all of Kalos," Serena replied happily.

"I'll go get some taxis to take us there," said Diantha, as she walked over a nearby idle taxi cab and talked to the driver.

"Well it looks like we're going our separate ways for the night," Professor Sycamore said as he walked over to Serena, placing his hands on her shoulders. Their eyes met once more before Serena felt his hands snake their way down her back and settle on the space just above her buttocks. She reached up to touch his face, her right hand cupping his face while her left hand snaked around to stay behind his neck. Her right hand soon joined her left as she pulled herself closer to hug him lovingly.

"I don't want to stay at Hotel Richissime, I want to stay with you," she said to his chest, trying to fight back the tears building up in her eyes.

He took her hat off her head before dipping his head down to place a swift, gentle kiss on the top of her head. "I too would rather you to stay with me than at the hotel but you have your friends and your mother with you," he said as she looked up to him, tears welling up in her eyes more and more. "It wouldn't be fair if I stole you away from them now, when I can do that later," he said, winking suggestively to her as she quickly hid her brightening face from him. He brought his right hand up to under her chin and held it up as he said, "Please don't hide that beautiful face from me," he said as a tear escaped its prison, running down her face and settling on his hand for a moment before finally falling to the ground. He rubbed her face gently with his thumb before saying, "Lets go on a date tomorrow night, my treat."

Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment before softening happily as his smile warmed her heart. "Oh Augustine, I'd love that," she said as she buried her face in his chest again, her tears falling freely now but this time in joy not sadness. He hugged her back, still holding onto her hat as he revelled in feeling her small body against his. But at that moment of utter happiness, he felt her voluptuous chest press itself against him forcing his happy thoughts out of his mind in order to be replaced by some lewd ones. _'She certainly has GROWN in the last two years,' _he thought, as he felt his member begin to grow again, straining against his pants. He thought he was going to loose control over himself but luckily for him he didn't as Diantha rejoined the group with a fleet of taxis ready to take Serena, her mother and her friends to Hotel Richissime.

"Come on, lets get going! And don't worry about the taxis, I'm paying tonight!" said Diantha happily as Shauna squeaked incredulously. "REALLY?! Thank you Diantha!" she said as everyone began to clamber into the taxis in front of them. Calem took a moment to watch Professor Sycamore and Serena hug each other good bye, before he was pulled roughly into one of the taxis. "Come on Calem! Let them have their time, so we can get going and have our time together," Shauna said as Calem fell on top of her inside the taxi causing Shauna to squeak out loud as one of Calem's free hands flung around and accidentally groped her small chest. Shauna squeaked indignantly at Calem as he smirked and said, "I thought you wanted us to have our time together." "Yeah but not now!" she exclaimed pushing him off of her and out of the taxi in a huff. "Tierno! Trevor! I don't want Calem to ride in this taxi with me! Get over here and take his place quickly!" she exclaimed as they ran over and sat down on either side of her inside the taxi.

"Can't catch a break can you Calem?" asked Serena who had walked away from her lover and over to where Calem stood dejected and hurt by Shauna's sudden anger towards him.

He shook his head sadly before saying, "No I guess I'm not as lucky as you are at catching breaks eh?" He nodded to Professor Sycamore before nodding back to her as she blushed at his words.

"Come on Calem! W…we should get going too!" she said, blushing like a madwoman before shoving him inside the last empty taxi; her mother and Diantha shared the first taxi in the line. She looked over to Professor Sycamore who had walked over to the entrance of his lab, stopping there to see her off. He waved to her happily as she smiled warmly, waving back before climbing into the taxi and taking a seat next to Calem.

The following morning had come as the first rays of sunlight spilled itself into the empty Pokemon laboratory as Professor Sycamore slept soundly in his bed. "Mmm…Sere…Serena…mmmm oui, juste comme ca…plus…sucer plus…ohhhhhhhhh!" he mumbled in his sleep as he dreamt about his beloved giving him his long awaited blow job. In his dream world, Serena's face flushed to a bright red as she followed his direction and sucked him more and more. In the real world, he wrapped his right hand around his fully erect member and began to stroke himself harder and faster under his blankets. He felt his release coming to him in both worlds with Dream Serena humming and sucking his cock faster and faster. "OH SERENA! JE T'AIME! OH SERENAAAAAA!" he exclaimed in both worlds as his release spilled out, in both Dream World Serena's mouth and his hand.

'Brrrring! Brrrring!' rang out his Holo Caster as he pulled his hand out from underneath his blankets and cleaned it off with some napkins from his bedside table. After thoroughly cleaning himself of his early morning mess, he pressed the answer button on his Holo Caster. _'I hope its Serena calling me,' _he thought happily, but his happiness was dashed away as Diantha's face lit up his room instead.

"Augustine! I'm glad you're awake! We have a problem over here! Can you get here as fast as you can?" she said, urgency etched itself in every word she spoke.

It took him a moment to register it before he replied, "Yeah sure, but what's the problem?" He sat up in his bed, leaned his back against his ornate headboard while reaching over to his lamp on his bedside table and turned it on.

"Di…Diantha? Is…that…Aug…Augustine…you're talking to?" came a familiar female voice from Diantha's side of the conversation. "May…I…ACHOO! Sorry…may…I talk…to him?" asked the voice as Diantha sighed heavily before handing off a napkin to the other female voice. "Yes you can, but blow your nose first! It won't look very nice if you blew your nose while speaking to your beloved, now would it?" Diantha said scolding Serena, who took her advice to heart and blew out her nose very noisily so. After blowing her nose, a horrifying thought struck Serena as she asked, "Oh no! Do you think he heard that?!"

Thinking he had enough of listening and watching, Professor Sycamore chuckled lightly to his Holo Caster before saying, "Ma Cherie Serena, I hate to tell you but yes I heard that and everything else that's going on on your end." Diantha laughed out loud as Serena's face flared up before she handed over her Holo Caster to the young woman as Professor Sycamore continued to chuckle.

"Hello Augustine! ACHOO! Sorry about that…give me a minute…just one minute," Serena said, as she turned her back to him to blow her nose. As he watched her feeble movements, he realized that she has caught a cold. He felt bad for her as he wanted so desperately to be at her bedside, taking care of her no matter what.

"You're sick aren't you?" he asked as she turned her back to the Holo Caster, still rubbing her nose with her napkin. She realized that she had been acting disgustingly all of a sudden as she stopped rubbing her nose and threw the napkin away quickly. She turned back to face him, attempting to smile brightly but failing miserably.

"Oh I'm fine really! You don't have to worry about little old me! This is nothing compared to training in the harsh cold of the Frost Cavern!" she said, waving a hand in front of her face dismissively. Just then her face pulled itself into a look of annoyance as she felt another sneeze gearing itself up. She grabbed another napkin from a nearby table and braced herself for the sneeze. "ACHOO! GAHH!" she exclaimed, managing to bring the napkin up to her nose just in time, catching it inside the napkin before blowing the rest of the mucus away.

"That's it! I'm going to get dressed and be there soon. You stay in bed and rest until I get there. What room are you in?" he said, as he switched the video link to pure audio before throwing his blankets off of him. He stood from his bed looking around for his boxers first then the rest of his outfit as he heard Serena begin her long line of protests.

"I'm in Diantha's penthouse suite right now, but you really don't have to come by! I'm fine! My mom is capable to take care of me! And I swear, I'll get better today so that we can go on our date later! I swear!" she said exasperatedly, as a sudden thought hit her. "Wait, did you say you have to get dressed? Does that mean you were naked just a moment ago when you were talking to Diantha?" she asked, sadness beginning to settle in her voice.

"Yes, but I was naked while talking to you too," he admitted embarrassedly, pulling his pants on; zipping them up before sliding his belt on.

She didn't register what he had said as she continued, "She's probably seen him naked a dozen times before. They've been friends for a long time…so why? Why should I bother anymore?" She didn't realise that what she had said wasn't kept in her mind as a thought as Professor Sycamore looked to his Holo Caster, eyes wide in surprise.

"Serena," he managed to say as he heard Diantha's voice suddenly. "You'll be happy to know that I haven't ever seen him fully naked," she said as Serena squeaked out in a horrified tone. "Did I say that out loud?! Damn it! I'm so sorry! I…I'm going back to bed before I say anything else so stupid!" she said as Professor Sycamore heard what must have been her running away.

"She really is in love with you Augustine," Diantha's voice said, as he buttoned up his shirt. "I never pegged her to be the jealous type though, but I guess that's just the way things happen when you're in love eh?" she asked on her end as he slipped his socks and shoes on.

"I didn't either. Can you keep her in your room for now?" he asked, as he stopped getting ready and switched his Holo Caster back to video.

"Yeah, of course I can Augustine. By any chance do you have some cold medicine for her too? Her mother wants to go out and get some for her but I told her that I'd ask you first," she asked earnestly.

"Oui, I'll bring some with me then," he replied before adding, "I'll be there soon. Thank you for calling me Diantha."

She smiled happily before saying, "I'm more than happy to have helped! Especially for the cutest couple in all of Kalos!" For a moment she thought she saw him blush, which made her smile widen.

"I'll see you soon," he said, turning off his Holo Caster before putting it inside his work bag. He walked into his bathroom, opened up his medicine cabinet and pulled out a small box of cold medicine. As he put them inside his work bag, he took a moment to look at himself in the mirror. His thoughts strayed to what Diantha had said about Serena being in love with him making him think, _'Why does she love me? I'm much older than she is. This face has seen many people come and go in my lifetime, so why does she love this? What on this earth does she see in me?'_ He ran his right hand through his thick black hair before asking his reflection, "Do looks matter to her at all? Does age?" He sighed heavily, shrugging his shoulders as he continued, "I guess I'll have to ask her myself later. For now I need to make her feel better, to prove to her that she doesn't need to be jealous of Diantha." And with that he walked out of his bathroom, grabbed the keys to his loft and the lab before heading off to his beloved bedside.


	4. Chapter 4

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Four

It took the Professor less than ten minutes to get from his Lab to Hotel Richissime, which was surprising to him as he couldn't ever recall a time that he'd make it around Lumiose City so fast. He walked inside the hotel, heading towards the elevator as he noticed a group of young women gawking at him. Normally he'd flash them a suggestive wink and smile to cause them all to faint, instead he gave them a small kind smile before he stepped into the elevator. As he pressed the button for the penthouse suite floor, and the doors slid closed, he thought he heard them scoff at him.

'_Hmm maybe I should've put on my usual look for them then? They were very pretty,' _he thought. He slapped himself mentally before saying, "Non Augustine! No matter how pretty some other girl or girls look, you have Serena now! And she is the most beautiful, perfect, smart young woman that I love so very much." He put his hand inside his work bag for a moment, smiling happily as he stroked at a small box within it. But soon the elevator doors slid open for him, allowing him to step out and be greeted by a smiling Diantha.

"It about time you got here!" she said, folding her arms across her chest as her smile turned playful.

"I thought I made excellent timing! I even managed to stop off at the Galette stand on the way here to pick up a treat for Serena. You know, when she feels up to it," he said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

She clapped her hands together, bringing them up to her face before saying, "It really is wonderful to see you making efforts to have a real relationship Augustine. Did you bring some cold medicine too?"

"Yes I did. How is she doing?" he asked with concern, disregarding her first comment on his life, as they walked along the hallway to Diantha's suite.

"She's doing well. After she ran away from my Holo Caster, she went straight off to sleep in my bed. Her mother and the rest of her friends are out getting some breakfast at Café Ultimo. I volunteered to stay behind until you got here," she replied as they walked into the suite. As he placed the Lumiose Galette on the bar top in the main hallway Diantha said, "Augustine, I think you have a rival for Serena's love."

He took a moment to register what she said before asking, "Oh? Who's my rival?"

"That boy, I think his name is Calem," she replied as he turned to look at her incredulously. "Granted I'm not 100% certain on this but things earlier this morning did seem different with the boy," she continued as she took a seat on one of the sofas in the main common area of the suite.

The Professor took his work bag off of his shoulders, sitting on the adjacent sofa from where Diantha sat, as he asked, "What do you mean Diantha?" As he put his work bag on the floor next to the sofa, he felt a sudden flare of jealousy build up inside him; threatening to bubble over should he let his guard down.

"Well after her mother found Serena passed out on the floor of her room, just one floor below us, he was the one who carried her up here. Apparently she wanted to come here instead of stay in her room. Why? I don't know and neither does anyone else," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "But one this is certain, up until I offered to call you, and she woke up to talk to you, Calem stayed glued to her side as if it were his only purpose in life," she continued as the Professor stared at her in shock and awe.

"I…I thought that he was in love with that girl, Shauna?" he managed to ask as Diantha merely shook her head.

"I thought so too. But remember that this could just be my imagination Augustine," she said, as she noticed the look on his face changing to pain while a multitude of thoughts darted around in his head.

'_I never thought about that! I thought I was the only one who was in the midst of pursuing her! Does she love him back?! Was she just playing with my emotions?! They are neighbours after all! Who knows if they've done anything with each other yet! Oh mon dieu, que dois-je faire?!' _he thought as he shivered painfully at the thought of Serena and Calem's naked bodies intertwined with one another with Serena calling out Calem's name instead of his.

"Augustine?" came a soft, gentle voice from behind them making the Professor jump in his seat as he quickly identified the voice as Serena's. "I'm so glad…you're here," she wheezed out as she felt a sneeze build up to its breaking point. "OH CRAP! I NEED A NAPKIN! QUICKLY! WHERE ARE THEY?!" she exclaimed, frantically running around the room looking for a napkin to catch her sneeze into.

The Professor found the box of napkins Serena was looking for and handed it to her. "Here mon amour," he said as she stopped running around.

She pulled a napkin out of the box just as her face pulled itself together to allow the sneeze to escape. Luckily she brought the napkin up to her face just in time for it, blowing her nose as she did. "Than…thank you Augustine. I feel so disgusting right now, I'm sorry," she said, looking between the Professor and Diantha bashfully, as the Professor placed the box on the coffee table.

Professor Sycamore tilted his head to his right side, smiling sweetly to her as he closed the gap between them. He pulled her into a loving and reassuring hug as he said, "You're not disgusting mon amour. Everyone gets sick. And just remember, I will always love you no matter what happens to you." He planted a kiss on her forehead before tightly wrapping his arms around her.

She used the napkin to rub her nose before she said, "But that's not what Calem said. When I woke up, just before I talked to you on Diantha's Holo Caster, he said that because you're a man of high standing, you would never find me attractive while I'm sick." From over Serena's head, the Professor looked to Diantha in shock. Diantha on the other hand looked back at the pair thoughtfully, as Serena continued, "I don't understand why he'd say something like that. It was so hurtful, it made me want to talk to you more. I didn't want to believe him."

The Professor felt a tear fall from her face and onto his shirt, causing him to tighten his hold on her before saying, "You don't have to believe him. I'm not planning on going anywhere until you're better. And even then, I still want to have you by my side." As she looked up at him he flashed a warm smile down to her and continued, "You're the one I love the most in the world. Whether you're sick or healthy, I will always love you, respect you, and find you attractive no matter what." He cupped her face with his right hand while pushing her head back against his chest, placing a few comfortingly sweet kisses on the top of her head. "Don't let what he told you get you down. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you, he's your friend after all, oui?" he said, letting her pull away a bit so she wasn't suffocating against him.

"Yes, he's my friend. You're right, I shouldn't let that get to me. If anything I should at least try and focus on getting better. You know, so we can still go on our date later," she said, using her hands to push off of him while looking up at him bashfully.

He smiled sweetly to her as he said, "Our date can wait, mon amour. Lets get you back to your happy-go-lucky, perky-self, non?"

She tilted her head to the left side, smiling sweetly as she said, "Ok!" Just then she felt another sneeze begin to bubble up, twisting her face yet again. Professor Sycamore smiled sweetly at her as he grabbed a napkin from the box on the coffee table and handed it to her. "Tha…thank…YOU! ACHOO!" she exclaimed, as the sneeze escaped from its prison and quickly re-entered another prison; within the napkin.

Diantha reached out to the couple, handing the Professor a bottle of Fresh Water before asking, "Augustine, don't you have some cold medicine for her?"

"Oh yes!" he said, peeling them apart to retrieve the medicine from his work bag. He took the box out of his bag, opened it, popped out two small oval capsules and handed them to Serena. "Here you go! But I unfortunately forgot to bring something to drink with me," he said, realizing his error mid-sentence.

She took the capsules from him, smiling sweetly as she said, "Thank you Augustine for bringing these to me. But don't worry about the drink, Diantha gave me some of her Fresh Water earlier. I still have some in the bed…room…". Just then she felt very weak, managing to close her hand around the cold medicine capsules in her right hand as she began to fall forward; toward the coffee table.

As quick as he could, the Professor lunged forward just in time to catch her before she hit the table. He scooped her up in his arms, lifting her up completely like a small child as he said, "Come, mon amour, you need your rest." "This way Augustine!" Diantha said, directing him to the bedroom, as she walked ahead of him to prepare the bed for her. He followed her direction as he carried Serena over to the bedroom, holding her close to his chest. She shifted a bit against him, smiling happily as her face flushed up. He didn't know if her face was flushing up from her cold, or pure happiness at being carried by her lover, so decided that it was most likely due to both items. He smiled sweetly to her as he walked into the bedroom, over to the bed, and gently laid her out upon it.

"Th…thank…you…Aug…Augustine…I…love…you…", she said between laboured breaths.

"I'll leave you two alone. Augustine, if you need to, there are some condoms in a little box under the bed," said Diantha, smiling mischievously while pointing to the spot under the bed. She quickly backed out of the room, not waiting to hear his angry retort as he stood rooted to the spot next to Serena; his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

Serena managed to chuckle a bit before bursting out into a coughing fit, rousing the Professor back to reality. "Mon amour, do not strain yourself. You need to take your medicine and get some rest," he said, noticing the Fresh Water on the table across from the bed.

As he retrieved the Fresh Water from the table, Serena managed to pull herself into a sitting position against the headboard of the bed. She let her head rest up against it, as she popped the capsules into her mouth. The Professor handed her the water, which she generously took from his outstretched right hand and gulped back both the water and the capsules in one motion.

"Augustine, can you stay with me?" she said, looking to him with a loving smile. He smiled back, noticing the chair next to the bed and began to take the seat. "No Augustine, please stay with me here," she said, patting the space next to her in the bed, her face red from asking him directly as she slid off of the headboard to lie down in the bed once more.

He looked to the space she had patted to and he said, "I won't take advantage of you while you're sick ma cherie." She looked at him with a playful smile on her face as she said, "I know you won't but I don't want to sleep alone either." Her eyes looked as if they were ready for sleep as he let out a small sigh while climbing into the bed next to her.

As he lay in the bed flat on his back, he felt a small form of awkwardness creep over him as she sat up on her right hip, flipping the blankets over him as if she were tucking him in. "I know it seems strange for the sick person to tuck in the healthy person, but to be honest I'd rather have it this way than the traditional way around," she said, as she patted the blanket on his chest before snuggling close to him. She snaked her legs in with his, urging him to do the same, as he felt his body tense up. _'Why am I acting like this is the first time I've ever lain in bed with a woman? Is it because she's the woman I love and I don't want to jinx things for us? Should I give in and just hold her? No, I shouldn't. I know what will happen if I do, and it would be irresponsible of me to give in like that. She's sick after all! But her body, its so warm, so soft and…inviting,' _he thought feeling his body shutter as she pressed her ample bosom up to his arm.

"What's wrong Augustine? You don't want to cuddle with me?" she asked, her voice cracking hurtfully as she sat up next to him. She looked down at him with sad and indignant eyes as he looked up at her feeling terrible for making her upset. "It's not that I don't want to cuddle with you its just…well…oh damn it all!" he said, as he just couldn't take her sad demeanour anymore. He reached up to her shoulders, grabbed them roughly and pushed her down against the bed; towering himself over her. His legs pinned hers down as his hands snaked down to her wrists, pushing them up above her head; fully pinning her to the bed. "I feel like my willpower to hold myself back from ravishing you is failing me. I want to wait until the time is right, but my body just can't hold itself together anymore," he said, as she looked to him, want and desire etched on her face.

'_Should I really worry about anything anymore? I mean, looking at her face I can see that she wants this as much as I do. Plus I think the medicine is doing its job, she does seem to be a bit healthier than she was when I talked to her on the Holo Caster this morning,' _he thought, unable to look away from her bright green eyes.

"Augustine…touché moi…sil vous plait…" she said softly, forcing him to look to her in shock; he didn't think he'd ever hear her speak such beautiful and fluent Kalosian to him.

'_She really wants me. She must have taught herself to say that for me. But I shouldn't take advantage of her right now. She needs to get better not worse,' _he thought as he painfully let her go; flipping himself onto his back before sitting up on the edge of the bed, hanging his head sadly. "I'm sorry, ma cherie, but now is not the time for this," he managed to say as he stood from the bed and walked over to the nearby table.

"But Augustine! Please, I…I want you. Don't you want me?" she asked, sitting up in the bed, scared uncertainty taking hold of her as she looked to him; waiting for him to respond. When he said nothing back to her, slinging his work bag back across his torso, she bowed her head down sadly and said, "I guess I should just get some rest then. Don't want to be sick for my birthday coming up soon. I'm sorry for this, I won't force you to touch me ever again."

He felt a pang of pain ripple from his heart down his entire body at her words before he turned to see her laying in the bed with her back to him; her blankets practically covering every inch of her body including her head. He heard her sob a bit against the pillow as he took a moment and thought, _'What should I do? Do I just leave her alone and let her cry some more? Or do I kiss her goodbye and try to convince her to reconsider what she just said? Which option is the proper, mature way to deal with this?' _Just then a flurry of images flashed into his mind of the night when she confessed to him; he had the same dilemma then as he did now.

Sensing that he hadn't left yet, she stopped sobbing, flipping the blankets away from her face as she said, "Please…just go away."

He felt another stab of pain in his heart at her words as he took a defiant step forward without thinking twice about his next move. "Non! I'm not going anywhere until I tell you how I feel about you Serena!" he said before continuing to get closer to her while taking his work bag off again, dropping it to the floor with a 'thud'. "I'm sorry Serena! I love you so much but I don't want to take your innocence like this, not like this," he said as he got closer to the bed. She felt the side of the bed he had occupied before sink once again as she turned to see him kneeling next to her. He draped his upper body over her once more before continuing, "I do want you. You are always on my mind. Every time I close my eyes all I can see is your smiling face." He looked to her bashfully as he said, "For the past two and a half years, ever since we first met, I've fantasized about you. Some times in my fantasies you're just smiling at me. But most of the time, you're…well…you're either laying underneath me, naked and moaning my name. Or well…you're sucking me off with that beautiful mouth of yours."

He dipped his face down to hers as she felt her face flare up at his bashful admission. "I have insatiable cravings for you. Sometimes when I'm alone in my lab, sitting at my desk doing my research, I feel my mind drifting off to the thought of you underneath the desk, sucking me off," he said embarrassedly, feeling his member begin to grow inside his pants. He tried to fight back the desire to push himself against her small body as he suddenly felt her lips crush against his.

She used her elbows to prop herself up to close the hanging gap between them, as her tongue pierced through his lips to intertwine with his. He groaned deep in his throat as she moaned softly with him, her body trying to push up to his as she felt his body attempt to move down to hers. She pulled away from his lips first for air as she asked, "Can I confess something to you?"

"Anything mon amour," he said between breaths, as he tried to cool himself off.

"I've always fantasized having my first time with you in your office," she said, looking up to him just as bashfully as he had to her earlier. He looked down at her in shock as she continued, "If I could have anything for my birthday from you that would be the best gift in the world." She laid down on her back once more as she reached her hands up to cup his face before saying, "I love you Professor Augustine Sycamore, and I want you to not only be my first but to be my one and only lover for the rest of my life. I'm sorry that I seemed jealous earlier, but I guess that's just what being in love is all about."

He smiled at her warmly before planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you too. I understand what you mean, I thought I was jealous of Calem but I know better now, oui?" he said as she looked to him curiously.

"Calem? Why were you jealous of him?" she asked, confusion lacing itself in her words. "Is it because we're neighbours? I'll have you know that meeting up with you guys in Aquacorde Town was the first time in a LONG time I've seen him," she said, letting her left hand fall away from his face, using that free elbow to sit up properly. Her right hand dropped down to his shoulders as he thought about telling her Diantha's suspicions but thought better of it as he said, "Mostly due to that reason, oui. But now I know for certain where your heart truly lies." As he ghosted his fingers up and over her left breast, causing her to shiver for a moment, she did the same to him while saying, "And I know where your heart lies too." They smiled together before he leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips. But before their lips could meet once more, a knock came to the bedroom door which made them jump suddenly.

"Is everything alright in there Professor?" came the voice of Serena's mother from the opposite side of the door. "We just got back! Serena, dear, I hope you don't mind that your friends and I went shopping already. OH! And I hope that if you two are doing anything in there, that you are using proper protection. Or so help me 'Professor', if you make my baby girl pregnant before she's AT LEAST twenty one, my Rhyhorn and I will tear you a new one if you know what I mean," she said, as Serena's face twisted angrily. The Professor jumped off of Serena as he sensed that if he valued his life he'd stay out of her way for the time being.

"WE'RE NOT HAVING SEX!" Serena exclaimed, running from the bed to the door, whipping the door open to find her mother staring at her in surprise. Her look of surprise drained from her face as it was quickly replaced by fear as Serena nearly smacked her square in the face with her fist. Her mother deftly dodged her daughter's fist just in time as she said, "Well that's good then. And it looks like you're feeling better too! I take it, the good Professor brought the cold medicine then?"

As Serena stood fuming at her mother from the door way, Professor Sycamore stood behind her, his work bag hanging off of his shoulder as he clasped a hand to her shoulder to calm her down; which worked immediately. "Yes I did. I promise you Madame that I would take every precaution to use protection when Serena and I become intimate, but only when she is ready. I want to make sure that she's comfortable with me first before we mutually decide to take our relationship to that level," he said, smiling warmly to her mother and her friends while pulling her closer to him for an endearing hug. She looked up at him as he flashed his warm smile down to her as she sent one back to him.

Just then she felt her weakness return to haunt her body as she fell back completely into him, sleep beginning to envelop her. "Come now ma cherie, lets get you back in bed and rest up," he said, scooping her up in his arms again and carried her back inside. He laid her down on the bed, pulled the blankets up to her shoulders before placing a small kiss on her forehead. "I love you with all of my heart. Get some sleep now, and I promise you we'll go on our date tomorrow," he said as she looked to him with hazy eyes. "Ok, I love you too," she managed to say before her sleepiness got the best of her. As her breathing steadied itself, the Professor decided to let her be for a while as he walked out of the bedroom and joined the others in the main room.

"Is she really starting to feel better now Professor?" asked Shauna as the Professor took up a seat on one of the sofas, sitting next to Tierno and Trevor.

"She seems to be just fine, especially right after she took some of my cold medicine. I'm sure she'll be all better for tomorrow," he said, smiling happily to Shauna before smiling to rest of the group. "So I hope that the final plans for her surprise in two days is nearly ready?" he asked them.

"Yeah pretty well. We're just waiting for a response from the Cyllage City Gym Leader Grant. He's been busy with some sort of bicycle racing event as well as constantly being challenged by trainers at his gym," said Trevor matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, hopefully he'll get back to us soon," said Tierno, shrugging his shoulders, as he polished off what looked like a Lumiose Galette. The Professor eyed Tierno suspiciously but was snapped out of it as he saw Diantha nod toward the counter in the front hall; the Lumiose Galette he bought for Serena still sitting upon it untouched. He let out a small sigh of relief before silently nodding his thanks to Diantha, who noticed it and nodded back thoughtfully.

"We went over to the Prism Tower and talked to Clemont and his kid sister too," Calem said, as the Professor turned his attention over to him. "They said that preparations at the Gym within the tower is nearly completed. They're just putting some finishing touches on a few things but will be ready for her big day," Calem said, nodding thoughtfully.

"Excellent, everything is coming together just as planned," said the Professor as he joined Calem in nodding thoughtfully.

"I talked to the Elite Four earlier while you were taking care of Serena, Augustine," said Diantha as he turned his attention to her next.

"And? Are they able to come too?" he asked expectantly.

"Of course! They said that they wouldn't miss it for the world," she replied happily.

The Professor stood up from the sofa stretching his arms above his head before saying, "Thank you all for helping me with this. I really want to make her birthday a day she will never forget." He looked to the bedroom door for a moment before turning back to everyone else and saying, "I have to go back to the lab to check on my assistants' and my research. I'll be back to check on Serena in a bit." As he walked to the door way, putting his shoes back on, he looked over at the Lumiose Galette on the counter before turning to Diantha. "Diantha, please make sure she eats this should she wake up while I'm out. I don't want it to go to waste," he said to his friend, as she smiled happily to him.

"Of course Augustine," she said before a thought got the best of her. "Here, take my room key," she said, handing him the card key to her room. He looked at her confusedly before she continued, "I'll stay in her room, and I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say that we think that you'll need it as you'll most likely want to stay here with her tonight." Before he took the card key from her he looked around the room to Serena's friend and mother who all flashed him thoughtful smiles, with the exception of Calem. He looked to Calem, waiting for the boy to follow suit with everyone else when Calem noticed the Professor's blue-gray eyes boring into him. He plastered a fake smile to his face as the Professor thought, _'There is definitely something going on with him. Of course little does he know that she doesn't feel anything for him and that she has already chosen me. If he tries anything, he'll find out the hard way whether he likes it or not.' _He flashed his smile off to Calem as Calem looked to the Professor in confusion. Calem's expression changed as he quickly grabbed Shauna's hand and squeezed it lovingly. She looked to him fondly before squeezing his hand back and smiling at him happily.

"Augustine? Salut Augustine? Are you there my friend?" Diantha asked, waving the key card in his face in an attempt to bring him back to the present.

He looked to her exasperated face before taking the key card from her and saying, "Desole Diantha. Merci pour votre carte-cle Diantha. I'll have to pick up a few things from my lab now, so I'll be a while before I'll be back." He turned his attention back to Serena's friends before saying, "I hope that you'll all take care of her while I'm out." Her friends smiled at him before Shauna perked up, "Of course we will!"

Serena's mother stepped toward the Professor, taking his hands in hers before asking, "You really do love my daughter don't you?" She smiled warmly to him as he looked to their hands then back to her face before responding, "Yes I do. With all my heart, I do." He looked away thoughtfully before he turned back to her face and asked, "Madame, may I ask you something personal?" She continued to smile warmly at him as she knew what it was he wanted to ask her.

As he tried to find the right words she said, "It's alright, I already know what you're going to ask me." He looked at her incredulously before she continued, "I give you my blessing Professor. The only thing I've always wanted in the world for my daughter is for her to have a happy life with the one person she loves with all her heart and whom loves her in return. And since she's finally found you, then I feel as though my job as her mother is complete." She squeezed their hands together before saying, "It's now your job as her lover to take care of her, to marry her and please, oh please give me some grandchildren before I'm fifty!" She let go of his hands as she reached her right hand up to fluff up her hair as she said, "I don't want my grandchildren to think of me as some decrepit old woman! Grandma is still young and hip!"

He chuckled happily as she joined him before he said, "I promise Madame, I will do all those things you say. You have no need to worry." The rest of the group smiled happily too as the Professor placed the key card in his bag before turning toward the door. "I'll be back as fast as I can." And with that he left the hotel, headed down the road and off to his lab, while looking up to the top floor of the hotel, vowing silently to the bedroom window on the right hand side of the building, _'I'll be back mon amour! After this moment, you will never have to sleep alone ever again.' _


	5. Chapter 5

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Five

Nearly an hour later, the Professor made his way back inside the hotel as he spotted the very same group of girls he had seen earlier in the morning. This time though, they seemed to be accompanied by a group of very good looking men all of which took notice of him waiting for his elevator. They each had their reasons for scowling at him as he thought, _'I know why they're scowling at me and it's a bit pathetic. The men are probably thinking that I'm after their women. And their women are probably still mad at me for not acknowledging their beauty earlier. I hope Serena gets better soon…I'd give anything to have her hang off my arm right now.' _He stepped inside the elevator as he heard a voice call out behind him urgently.

"WAIT! HOLD THAT ELEVATOR!" said the voice as the Professor turned around to see that the voice calling out to him belonged to Calem. The Professor held the elevator door open by placing his hand on the side of it while Calem stepped inside. He removed his hand from the side of the door to let it close, pressed the floor button for the fifth floor as he stood next to Calem awkwardly.

They stood next to each other for a moment of awkward silence before the Professor finally broke it. "Running errands?" he asked, fishing for a conversation starter. Calem simply nodded in response, keeping his face down and his eyes glued to the floor of the elevator. "What sort of errands were you running?" the Professor asked, still trying to fish for a conversation with the boy.

"Rina's mother wanted more of the croissants and macaroons we had at Café Ultimo this morning, but she didn't want to leave Rina's side," Calem said, realising that he had no other choice but to talk to the Professor.

Another quick moment of silence fell between them before Calem decided it was his turn to break it. "Um…Professor…can I ask you something?" he began, finally peeling his eyes away from the elevator floor to look up at the Professor inquisitively.

"What is it you'd like to ask?" the Professor asked, looking at Calem thoughtfully. _'Here we go. He's going to ask me to stop pursuing Serena so that he can,' _he thought, bracing himself for the worse.

"How do you know when you're in love with someone?" Calem asked, as the Professor looked to him with a mild feeling of confusion playing on his face. _'What's this about? Is he having second thoughts about being with Shauna?' _he thought as he noticed Calem's inquisitive stare intensify when he didn't reply right away.

"Well you know when you're in love with someone when you can't ever get them off of your mind," the Professor replied, placing a finger up to his chin thoughtfully. "You'll know when all you do is think, dream and talk about that person. That's when you'll know when you're in love with that person. They invade your life. They shape your very being, whether they know it or not," he continued as he flashed a happy smile to Calem. Calem looked up at him as the elevator came to a stop, the doors opening up to the fifth floor hallway. He plastered a smile on his face at the Professor as he stepped out of the elevator, carrying the bags of food in both hands; he made sure to get lots in case Serena's mother wanted more later.

The Professor stepped out of the elevator right behind Calem as he asked, "Is there something wrong with you and Shauna? Have you fallen out of love for her?" He took a moment to contemplate his last question properly as Calem stopped walking and turned back to the Professor.

"It's not like that I can guarantee that to you. I am in love with Shauna and I know she's in love with me. So it isn't anything like that. I was just asking you for your opinion on the matter. You know, to reassure myself," Calem said, smiling meekly at him before turning back towards the hallway to the penthouse room.

"Is that the real reason? Or are you saying that to cover something up?" the Professor asked, looking straight at Calem's back as Calem stopped dead in his tracks to think about what the Professor just said to him. "Are you confused by your own feelings for Shauna as you're secretly in love with someone else?" the Professor continued when he didn't receive a response from Calem straight away.

Calem's body tensed up at the Professor's words as he thought, _'Has he noticed the way I've been watching Serena lately? Is this his way of protecting his relationship with her? By asking such direct questions? Well I guess they're not THAT direct but still, it's pretty damn close.' _He turned to face the Professor, plastering a fake smile on his face and said, "I'm not playing Shauna if that's what you're concerned about. I'm not that kind of guy. I just wanted to make sure that my feelings for Shauna were true, and what you said is exactly how I feel about her. I think about her every day, even though she hangs off of me as much as I think about her."

"Well that's great to hear! She does hang off of you quite a bit," said the Professor, smiling happily back to Calem as he walked over to Calem as he continued to walk down the hall. As they got nearer to the room door, the Professor pulled out the key card and said, "To be honest, I was jealous of your outward displays of affection back when we were in Aquacorde Town. I wish Serena and I can do the things you and Shauna can do some day without any ridicule or criticism from others."

"People only criticize those which aren't proper. For a renowned Professor and the Kalos League Champion to be fraternizing isn't what most people would call for as proper behaviour," said Calem, his face focused on the door in front of him, not noticing the Professor's surprised stare at this sudden dark lament. "Oh but I guess you guys might be in the clear now that I'm the Kalos League Champion. But of course there's still the factor of your age difference and social standing," Calem continued, this time his tone becoming darker with each word passing through his lips.

'_There he goes with that "Social Standing" thing again,' _the Professor thought, remembering back to what Serena had told him earlier. But before he could dwell on that thought, the door to the hotel room flew open suddenly. "AUGUSTINE!" came a high pitched happy feminine voice; obviously belonging to Serena. Before the Professor could react to his lover's direct advance upon him, he fell over backward, landing on his back with Serena laying on top of him; with Calem deftly dodging the attack.

"Owww…I guess I didn't think that through properly," Serena said, pushing herself up with her hands on the ground around the Professor's head; her legs settling around his waist.

The Professor groaned out after the sudden contact between himself and the ground, as he looked up through misted eyes and noticed his lover was straddled on top of him. Even though he was in pain from the fall, he couldn't help but reach his hands up to cup her buttocks over top of her pyjama bottoms, making her squeak in surprise.

"Augustine! How dare you?!" she exclaimed angrily, smacking his shoulder with her right hand while holding herself up with her left. Her face blushing to a shade of red, so bright he thought he needed sunglasses to shield his eyes.

He chuckled heartily before saying, "Desole ma cherie! I couldn't help myself, your buttocks is just too perfect for me to not touch."

"Ahem! I know I gave you my blessing earlier but I didn't mean for you to start giving me grandchildren right now! Go on a few dates first, Professor Pervert!" exclaimed Serena's mother, standing just inside the door way watching the scene before her.

Serena and the Professor both looked over at the door way, seeing Serena's red faced mother and friends, with Diantha standing behind everyone, holding her sides while trying not to topple over in laughter.

Serena's face flushed up brighter than before as she hopped off of the Professor embarrassedly letting him to sit up properly. She thrusted out her right hand to him without looking at his face as he took that as a hint that she's sorry for what she did. He clasped his hand into hers, feeling her arm flex as she helped him stand up straight next to her while she kept her gaze to the floor in front of her. He leaned close to her and said, "Merci ma cherie. You seem to be getting better I see. But how did you know I was here?"

"I thought I heard your voice in the hallway so I looked through the peep hole in the door and sure enough, here you are," she replied, looking up from the floor, smiling happily to him as she continued, "I'm getting better because of the medicine you brought to me. Oh and the Lumiose Galette was delicious, thank you." She wrapped her right hand around his left, squeezing it lovingly before pulling him inside the room. He relished in the feeling of having her warm hand around his, as he allowed her to lead him around the room.

Through out the rest of the day and evening Serena and the Professor spent their time with Serena's friends, Diantha and Serena's mother; playing board games and charades. Serena won most of the games they played, with a few wins gone to her mother and one to Tierno; he was surprisingly good at charades. Every so often Serena would feel light headed which became the Professor's cue to help her into the bedroom to rest and take her medicine. She had a light nap in the afternoon, sleeping peacefully in the bed while the Professor set himself to work on his laptop at the table across from the bed. When he thought she was in a deep enough sleep, he reached inside his bag and pulled out a small square box. He looked over at her sleeping form before finally opening it.

'_Oh Serena, ma cherie, ma petite belle amour. I hope you'll get better for your birthday. I can't wait to see the look on your face when I give this to you,' _he thought, looking between the box on the table and Serena, smiling happily while absentmindedly brushing the sides of the box, and it's contents, with his finger tips. With a quick smile to his lover, he closed the box and placed it back inside his work bag as he settled himself back to his work.

Later on in the evening, after Serena woke up from her nap, she found that everyone, including the Professor, had ordered their dinner from the Room Service menu. Diantha said that it was her treat as she handed Serena a bowl of chicken soup and a baguette. "Augustine's been keeping you locked up in that room without eating anything all day!" Diantha said, after Serena took the baguette from her, she punched the Professor on the shoulder.

"OW!" exclaimed the Professor, rubbing his shoulder, pouting sadly at Diantha. "I have not been keeping her 'locked up'! She had her Lumiose Galette just before I came back!" he said angrily as Serena watched her lover and her friend tease each other before bursting out laughing. _'I really don't have anything to worry about with them,' _she thought as they looked over to her, confusion on their faces.

She looked at them between laughs, placing the food on the coffee table before her as she brought her right hand up in front of her face. She waved said hand dismissively, while smiling happily at them before saying, "Oh it's nothing, just an amusing thought that's all." She moved her hand away from her face, lacing her fingers together behind her back as she tilted her head to the right side; smiling warmly to them this time. "Thank you Diantha for the meal," she said as she turned her attention to her friends surrounding her. "Thank you all for being here with me today. I do feel guilty though for keeping you guys here," she said as her face changed to a look of sadness.

"You don't have to feel guilty Rina!" said Trevor sadly before Tierno piped up, "That's right! We had a lot of fun today!"

"We're your friends Rina! Don't forget that," said Shauna as Calem wrapped an arm around Shauna's shoulders before looking up at Serena thoughtfully.

"We're worried about you dear," said Serena's mother as she set her dinner on the coffee table too. She walked over to Serena, pulling her into an endearing hug when she was close enough. Serena hugged her mother back, enjoying the feeling of the hug as her stomach growled angrily; killing the happy mood everyone had just set up.

"Can I eat now, please?" she asked as her mother let her go and smiled happily to her before ushering her to a seat on the sofa so she can eat her dinner.

As the rest of the evening passed on, with everyone enjoying their meals and chatting heartily, Serena couldn't help but constantly reach out to the Professor and hold his hand. Each time she did, he'd flash her a warm smile while squeezing her hand affectionately, causing her to blush. After dinner everyone decided to watch one of Diantha's movies to end the evening peacefully.

"Mmm…thank you for keeping me company today Augustine," Serena said, as she snuggled close to his chest.

He wrapped his right arm around her body, his hand rubbing her shoulder lightly before whispering to the top of her head, "C'est mon plaisir, ma cherie." He brought his hand up from her shoulder, letting it rest for a moment on her forehead before saying, "Your temperature seems to have gone down. How do you feel mon amour?"

"I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have been taken care of by the world's best Pokemon Professor and most handsome man," she said, looking up at him lovingly, just itching to kiss him passionately, but with everyone still there, she made the best attempt to hold herself back as she could.

He looked down into her bright green eyes, noticing the desire hidden within them as he smiled at her warmly. He kissed the side of her head before saying, "I love you so very much Serena. I'm glad you're better now." He lowered his mouth to her ear while whispering to her so no one could hear, "I know we're waiting for the perfect moment for us to become one, but I can't wait any longer. After everyone leaves, I want you to be mine…tonight."

Her face flushed up instantly at his words as she thought about what he proposed. _'I don't know if I'm really ready for sex yet! Plus wouldn't it be wrong if we have sex before I'm of age? Granted my birthday is in two days, but should we really just give in to our base desires for each other just because we can't hold back any longer? Oh damn it what should I do?! I don't want to shoot him down, forcing him to leave me alone tonight! But I don't want us to do something we'll probably regret in the morning! What should I do?! What should I say?!'_

She stood up suddenly from her spot on the sofa, surprising everyone at her sudden movement as Diantha fiddled with the remote to pause the movie. "What's wrong?" Diantha asked as Serena stared at her friends while trying to figure out her next move. She felt a yawn build up in her lungs as she thought, _'Oh thank goodness, a scapegoat!' _She let the yawn out of her mouth, stretching her arms up above her head as she said, "Oh nothing's wrong! I'm just tired, that's all. I…I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

"It is getting late, maybe we should call it a night then?" Calem asked the group around him as he looked at his watch and noticed that it was nearly eleven o'clock. Everyone else looked at their watches and nodded in silent agreement that it was a good enough time to return to their respective rooms.

"Now Augustine, you're on guard duty tonight. You're in charge of watching over Serena, not taking her innocence from her just after she's gotten over her cold!" said Diantha, pointing at him sternly as Serena's mother shot him a quick glare.

"There is nothing to worry about! I promise to keep my hands to myself," he said to the group before him, as everyone eyed him suspiciously. He raised his hands up in the air defensively as he said, "You guys can trust me! I swear it!"

Diantha eyed him for a moment longer before saying, "Ok Augustine. If she isn't 'glowing' tomorrow morning, then I will apologise for my suspicions. But if she is, I will use my Aurorus' Ice Beam attack to freeze you solid!"

"Like I said, I promise to keep my hands to myself tonight. I will sleep out here on this very sofa," he said, pointing to the sofa he and Serena had been occupying just moments ago. He flashed a reassuring smile to Diantha and the rest of the group as everyone had begun to collect their things.

While the Professor continued to spout out his promise to leave Serena untouched to the group as they headed out the door, a rotten smell penetrated Serena senses suddenly. She watched the Professor to make sure he wasn't looking at her as she began to smell around herself for the source of the pungent odour. _'Eww is that…me?' _she thought as she smelled her armpits, cringing at the nasty odour coming from them. _'Yep, that's me. I can't believe I was just cuddling with Augustine and smelled like this! I hope he didn't notice! Oh how embarrassing!' _she thought as she eyed the last of the group leaving the room and the bathroom door nearby them. _'Damn it! I need to take a bath but everyone is in the way! I don't want them to know how badly I smell! Especially Augustine! That is, if he hasn't noticed already,'_ she thought embarrassedly. The nasty smell permeated her senses once more as she thought, _'Ugh! Screw it! I'm going for the bathroom!' _

She tore off towards the bathroom, passing by Trevor, Tierno and the Professor as each of them took notice of the pungent odour hanging in the air. Before she could hear their anguished cries at the smell that accompanied her, she slammed the bathroom door shut; locking it from her side so no one could get in while she bathed. She quickly ran the water in the tub to drown out the sounds of her friends and lover in the hallway beyond the bathroom door, fiddling with the knobs to find the optimal temperature. When she did, she let the water fill up the tub just enough to support herself without it over flowing completely. She unbuttoned her shirt, flipping it off as she pushed her pants and panties off. She left her clothes in a pile on the floor as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, examining herself pointedly.

'_I don't understand what it is that Augustine finds attractive about me. Yes I have a young body but still, it's only an average one,' _she thought as she walked away from the mirror towards the bath; turning off the knobs and climbing inside. She felt the water instantaneously wash away the last remnants of her cold as she let out a long, happy groan at the feeling of the warm water against her naked body. "Ahhhh that feels soooo good!" she exclaimed as she sank lower in the bath, letting the water envelop her completely; right up to her face. She kept her hair down instead of tying it up in a ponytail, as she felt that she needed to clean herself from head to toe. She sank lower into the water, allowing the water wash over her head this time, before coming up for air.

'_I wonder what Augustine is doing right now,' _she thought as she leaned back in the bath, placing her left arm up on the edge of the tub while placing her right hand on her chest where her heart lies within. _'If only I didn't smell so bad, I could have asked him to join me. But of course that would mean we'd wind up having sex in the bath,' _she thought as her face flared up thinking about the two of them intertwined together, moaning and yelling out each other's names as they hit their respective climaxes. She sunk back down inside the bath water, trying to wipe the image from her mind, as a knock at the door roused her from it completely.

"Serena, mon amour? Is everything alright in there? Do you need me to get you anything?" came the Professor's voice from the other side of the locked bathroom door, causing Serena to squeak in surprise; splashing water all around the room in a panic.

"Umm…I need a new change of clothes. I think my mom packed a night gown in my suit case," she responded as a thought struck her. _'CRAP! My bags are down in my room!' _she thought before she said, "But I think my bag is still downstairs in my room!"

"Your mother brought your suit cases up here while you were sleeping earlier," he said as she sunk back down in the tub feeling her low self-esteem kick in. "Is that all you need? Do you need a towel? Or are there enough in there for you already?" he asked as she pulled herself up out of the bath water to respond to him.

"Yeah that's it really. I have enough towels in here thank you for asking," she said as she felt suddenly happy that he was still around to help her. _'He's so helpful, to think that he spent a majority of the day here with me. Caring for me, helping me take my medicine. He even brought me a Lumiose Galette…I love him so much,' _she thought happily before a serious thought hit her. _'How is he supposed to give me my clothes while the door is locked? Damn it! I really didn't want him to see me naked yet!' _she thought desperately as she carefully climbed out of the bath and unlocked the door. She heard his footsteps return to where he was just a moment ago on the other side of the door as she deftly ran back to the bath, diving into the water with her back to the door.

"May I come in?" he asked after lightly knocking on the door to signal his return.

"Yes, I've unlocked the door so you can come in!" she said, wrapping her right arm around her chest, trying to conceal her breasts while her left arm was used to cover the rest of her body.

As he walked into the bathroom, the Professor tried his best to not look at her while she bathed but couldn't help to peak. He let out a small sigh of relief as he noticed she had her back to him. Unfortunately his grip on his self control faded as he took in the look of her porcelain back, how untouched and pure it seemed to him. He swallowed down his desire to just rip off his clothes and jump into the bath with her as he placed her clothes, fresh panties and socks included, on top of the closed toilet seat. "I hope you don't mind but I brought you a clean pair of panties. I didn't know if you wanted your bra, so I left it in your suit case in the bed room," he said as he looked meekly at her back, noticing it changing from porcelain to pale pink at his words.

"Oh…umm…thank you Augustine," she managed to say, as she pulled her body closer together embarrassedly.

Every thought in his head screamed at him to leave right then and there, that she can take care of herself, but instead he pushed all logical thinking aside, knelt next to the tub and asked, "Have you washed your back yet?" Before she could answer he went a head and pushed her wet hair off of her back, letting it hang over her left shoulder as he reached to wash cloth sitting on the edge of the tub nearby.

She felt his touch on her back, feeling her body tense up as goose bumps covered her completely. _'Is he seriously going to wash my back?! Is this his way of initiating his desire to have sex with me?! Are we going to have sex right here, right now?! Oh my god! I'm not ready yet! I'm not ready! I'm not ready! I'M NOT READY!' _she thought desperately looking for a way to get out of situation she's in. "Umm…uhhh…you…you don't need to…wash my back…I can…get it…" she said, but it was already too late as she felt the wet cloth rub up against her back awkwardly at first before it levelled out into a proper rhythm.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I know it made you feel uncomfortable that's why you told everyone you're tired and came in here?" he asked, his hands focused on her back while he tried to keep his eyes from looking at the rest of her naked body.

"Thank you for your apology but I came in here because…well…I didn't smell right…" she muttered, the pale pink colour of her back intensifying at her admission.

"Oh…" he managed to say, lost for words as he continued to clean her back.

After a few moments of silence passing them by, the Professor broke it by asking, "Can I tell you something that no one else knows about? Not even Diantha?"

"Sure, I'm all ears," she replied as she finally relaxed against his rhythmic movements.

"It's been four years since I've had sex with anyone," he said, feeling his face flare up at his own admission as she took a moment to think about what he said before turning slightly to face him. She kept her right arm up covering her chest as she looked at him thoughtfully. "The last woman I had been with told me that I wasn't very good at pleasuring her, and she thought that I was still a virgin. I told her that I wasn't a virgin and that I had been with other girls before her and none of them complained as much as she did. She laughed at me and said that they were probably trying to be nice to me," he said as she looked at him sympathetically.

"Is that why you want to have sex with me so badly? To prove to this woman that you have all the experience in the world at having sex?" she asked with a note of sadness in her voice.

He looked at her in surprise as he said, "Non, ce nais pas le raison de mon amour! I want to have sex with you because…well…je t'aime! Je t'aime toi! I don't have anything to prove to anyone except for you!"

She looked at his sudden, pained expression on his face and realized she had struck a nerve with him. _'I hurt his feelings! He loves me and I'm hurting him. He's telling me something that really hurt him in the past and here I am hurting his feelings instead of comforting him! I need to make this right,'_ she thought as she removed her right hand from her chest, turned around completely and stroked his face gently. "I'm sorry Augustine. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I know that you love me, and I love you too," she said as he closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling of her hand on his face.

When he opened his eyes to look her, he tried to keep his eyes focused on her face but couldn't stop them from drifting down to look at her exposed chest. He cleared his throat, nodded to her chest and said, "Serena, I can see your breasts."

She stopped stroking his face at his words, looked down at her chest and squeaked embarrassedly as she quickly flipped around so her back was facing him once more before sinking back down in the bath water. He chuckled at her for a moment before she threw him an annoyed glare before joining him; she loves hearing his laughter even if its at her own expense. She sat up a bit so that he could go back to washing her back as she asked, "So this woman told you all of those hurtful things, then what happened?"

He looked at her back for a moment before grabbing the wash cloth and continued his work on her back. "Well as you can imagine I was hurt by her words, so much so that I decided to never fall in love, or participate in one night stands ever again. I doubted myself. Questioned everything I had done with my life. And before I knew it, I began to live my life quietly. Working on my research on Mega Evolution. That is until I met you," he replied as he began to wash the nape of her neck before moving on to her shoulders.

She sat in complete silence thinking about everything he told her as he took that as a sign to continue with his story. "When we first met, I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Everything about you that day was absolutely perfect, I couldn't help but challenge you to a battle to see your moves. I rationalized to myself that I wanted to see how you could handle yourself in a battle, but my base urges wanted to see what your body looked like in action. And I got what I wanted to see," he said, as he directed the wash cloth down her left arm, under the water for a moment before moving back up to her shoulders.

She shuttered at the close contact from feeling his body pressed up against hers for that short moment as he continued on. "I felt like a dirty old man, lusting after my student upon first meeting her. I told myself that I needed to continue with my chastity and focus on my work. But every time you answered my calls on your Holo Caster. Every time we met up at both Lysandre's café and at Couriway Town, I felt myself loosing my grip on reality. Even at the Celebration parade I put together for you, I questioned why I was so hell bent on doing it. Was I doing it to be grateful to you for stopping Team Flare? Or was it my way of trying to get inside your pants?"

"Is that why our meeting at the Lumiose Station the next day was so quick? Were you afraid that if we were alone for too long, that you'd do something you might regret later?" she asked, realization dawning on her suddenly.

"Oui, even on that night when we met up at Anistar City, the night you confessed your feelings for me, I…I…" he said, his hand letting go of the wash cloth as he sat behind her, a bubbling desire rearing up inside him once more as he wanted to have his way with her at that moment. _'She's already naked, why hold back any longer? Who cares if she's not of age yet? Age is just a number! She'll still look the same as she does right now on her birthday, so why not just give in now?' _he thought as she shifted in the bath to look at him. He saw the same desire in her eyes as he held in his before she looked away quickly, bashfully saying, "I…I'm ready to get out now."

Without speaking to her he stood up, held his right hand out to her to help her up before turning to the toilet seat to pick up the towel. As he handed the towel to her she avoided his eyes and asking, "So are you really going to sleep on the sofa tonight?" He detected a hint of sadness in her voice as he replied, "Oui, je suis desole Serena. I promised everyone that I won't touch you." He cupped her face in both of his hands as he continued, "And I promised to make you mine on my desk in my lab, just the way you want it." He leaned down to kiss her deeply before pulling away quickly to whisper to her ear, "I intend to keep my promises, no matter what." She shivered at his words, feeling his right hand brush against her cheek before he let her face go and began to walk out of the room.

After he closed the bathroom door behind him, flashing one last smile at her, she let her hands fall to her sides as she felt a warm feeling spread from her heart down to rest between her legs. It took all of her strength to not touch herself as she finished drying off. She took her time in the bathroom in order to cool off as she brushed her hair and dressed herself as she looked at the bathroom mirror. _'He remembered what I want him to do to me. That woman is a fool, I'm sure he's an exceptional lover. Oh what I'd give to have him take me now. Maybe I could…NO! I shouldn't force it any more. I will wait just as he is for my birthday. Yeah, I'll wait with him,' _she thought as she walked over to the bath tub, drained the water and walked out of the bathroom to go to bed for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Six

'_AHAHAHAHAHA! Wow! That was SO terrible! Are you sure you're not a virgin anymore?!' asked a female voice as she continued to laugh at the man lying next to her. She flipped her long blond hair out of her face as she stood up from the bed while the man looked to her, hurt and confused._

'_Yes I'm sure I'm not a virgin!' he said indignantly as he watched the woman walk around the room redressing herself as she still continued to laugh at him. _

'_Augustine…' came a soft voice as the man lying in the bed stopped watching the blond woman and looked next to his bed to where he heard the soothing voice._

'_Serena? Is that you?' he asked as he looked at her, noticing how her orange hair fluttered around her perfect, porcelain face. Her body glowed brightly as she smiled happily to him, to which he noticed that she wasn't wearing anything as she held out her right hand. _

'_It's time to get up Augustine! Augustine…Augustine…Augustine…' said dream world Serena as the Professor's consciousness began to return to him._

"Augustine! It's time to get up! Everyone is waiting for us in the lobby," said real world Serena as she stood behind the sofa he slept on, happily watching her lover as he slowly began to wake up.

"Mmmmm? Wh…What time is…is it?" he asked sleepily as his eyes slowly opened themselves as he rolled over onto his right side. He felt his body ease itself back against the sofa lulling him to sleep once more. But as soon as he closed his eyes to fall back to sleep, he felt something poke his forehead roughly before feeling a painful tingling run across his face. He jolted himself to sit up on the sofa, taking notice of the thing that had roused him fully awake while hearing a giggling sound behind him.

"Oh Phantump! I told you to poke him with your horns not use your lick attack on him!" Serena said, chuckling at the scene before her while chastising her Pokemon lightly. "Phan Phantump Phan!" said her Phantump pleadingly with sad eyes. "It's ok Phantump, you did your best and that's all that matters," Serena said, smiling happily to Phantump while holding it's Poke Ball out in front of her. Phantump smiled at her as she said, "Thank you for your help. Please return to your Poke Ball."

As Phantump returned to its Poke Ball, the Professor reached out to the table to grab a napkin, wiping his face clean before asking, "How long have you been up mon amour?"

Serena placed Phantump's Poke Ball inside her strappy purse as she walked around to stand in front of him. "Not long at all. My mom and Diantha sent me a message on my Holo Caster. They said that they're all waiting for us in the hotel's lobby. My mom even asked me if you touched me at all last night," she said, bowing her head embarrassedly.

He removed the napkin from his face, looking at her embarrassed face as he also took in what she was wearing; a red tie-neck blouse with a red pleated skirt and her traditional black tights with her riding boots. _'She looks so beautiful! I don't think I've ever seen her wear something so perfect for her body. What I'd give to bend her over, pull off those tights and give it to her while she's still wearing that skirt…NON! Augustine! GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF! You must wait until the time is right!' _he thought, as he desperately tried to pull himself together. "Where did you get that from?" he asked, throwing the napkin on the table as his question distracted her from her embarrassment.

She grabbed the edges of her skirt as she looked up at him while spinning around to show off her outfit. "It was in a boutique bag at the foot of my bed. I guess my mom bought it for me," she said, as she brought herself back around to look at him happily at first then back to embarrassment as she noticed his pointedly amusing stare. "Why do you ask? Does it look bad on me?" she asked worriedly as he began to chuckle lightly at her worried tone.

"Non, mon amour. You look tres manifique Serena. Like a glowing angel princess," he said, as he noticed her face flushing up at his words. "So what did you tell your mother and Diantha about us?" he asked, bringing her back to the initial topic.

"Oh, I told them that you kept to your word and slept on the sofa," she said, as she walked over to the sofa and sat next to him while bowing her head in embarrassment. "When they didn't believe me, I brought my Holo Caster out here and showed them you sleeping soundly right here," she said, keeping her face down without looking at him until he reached a hand underneath her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"There's no need to feel embarrassed mon amour. You needed proof and what you did is the only way you would have gotten them to back off for now," he said, cupping her face completely in his right hand, smiling reassuringly as she smiled back to him. _'We're finally alone, I should at least kiss her. Her face is so beautiful, and those eyes, they're the icing on the cake! She's the only woman I've really fallen in love with, and one day she'll be more than just a girl I'm in love with,' _he thought, staring into her eyes as he felt his heart flutter inside his chest.

"I love you so much Augustine," she said as she felt his hand pull her close to his face, as he moved in and kissed her lovingly. At first the kiss was light and endearing as she felt his lips lightly brush against hers as she tried to urge him to kiss her deeper.

He pulled away first from her lips and said, "J'aime toi aussi ma petite princesse." He then leaned down to kiss her again as he felt his self control ebb away again. He pushed her back against the couch, pinning her down completely. She moaned inside his mouth as his tongue pushed passed her lips to play with her tongue. She felt his hips push against her as his right hand moved down from her face, passed her neck and rested on her left breast as his left arm propped himself up off of the back of the sofa. He nipped at her neck as he squeezed her breast firmly causing her to moan out " Oh Augustine…" before a loud ringing sound erupted from inside her purse, bringing them back to reality.

She let out an annoyed sigh as she pushed him off of her, reached inside her purse and pulled out her Holo Caster. She pressed the button to answer her call as the Professor leaned back on the sofa, placing his arms on the back edging of the sofa behind her head, playing lightly with her hair while trying to cool off.

"It's about time you answered!" came Serena's mother's voice as she looked at Serena sternly. "I hope I wasn't INTERRUPTING anything," she said as Serena looked to the holographic version of her mother mixed with embarrassment and annoyance.

"You weren't interrupting anything mother. What do you want?" she asked, the annoyance in her voice was harsher that she anticipated as her mother's face contorted angrily back at her.

"What do I WANT?! You know what I want! I want you and your lover boy Professor to hurry up and get down here so we can all go out and see the city!" said her mother angrily. "You've already seen the city yesterday while I was sick!" Serena said, as her mother's angry face was quickly replaced by Diantha's cooler demeanour; just in time too.

"Sorry about that, she's just worried about you, you know," Diantha said reassuringly.

"I know, she's always worried about me. I wish she'd stop worrying about me and let me live my life the way I want to," Serena said, pouting a bit at Diantha's calm face.

"I understand completely. I'll try to calm her down. Just worry about yourselves, ok?" Diantha said, cracking a reassuring smile.

"Ok, we'll be down soon. Thank you Diantha," said Serena as she powered down her Holo Caster and placed it back inside her purse.

Serena and the Professor sat on the sofa, heads bowed down looking at the table where Serena's Holo Caster sat only a moment ago as an awkward silence filled the room. _'This is just great. I made her feel uncomfortable again! Why did I have to make such a move already?! Am I really loosing my grip on myself that much?! I almost raped her! With just one day before her birthday too! What should I do now? What should I say to her? Should I just go back to my lab and let her friends entertain her for the day? Yeah, I should do that. It's the most responsible thing I could do at this point,' _he thought as she sat next to him playing with the hem of her skirt, her knees locked together.

"Umm…I'm sorry you had to see that," she said shakily as she continued to fiddle with her skirt. She rubbed her legs together as she continued, "But…ummmm…what just happened with us just a moment ago…I'd be lying if I said that I didn't like it." He looked at her in surprise as she said, "I liked feeling you draped over me…pushing yourself on my body…squeezing my breast…it felt so exhilarating…". _'She liked it? She liked being pushed down, and taken advantage of?' _he thought, looking her over in shock at hearing her admission. _'This is new! I never thought she'd like that sort of thing!' _he thought as she quickly stood up from the sofa, facing him for a moment before she leaned over him; grabbing the back of the sofa behind his head for leverage.

"Serena?" he asked as her face was inches from his, her breathing ragged and her face as red as a Haban Berry. He felt the sofa sink around his waist as she draped her legs around him, straddling his lap before kissing him roughly. He sat rooted to the spot, shocked by her sudden move, as he tried as hard as he could to think of something to do next. _'What should I do now? This isn't like her, but then again, maybe it is? Has she been with anyone else before me? Has she and Calem been like this? And now she's using this move on me?' _he thought frantically as he felt her kissing slowing down.

She pulled away for a moment, annoyed that he didn't do anything to her as she asked, "What's wrong? I thought you'd like this too?" "I do, oh good god do I ever like this. But…oh screw it!" he said as he reached his hands up, one resting on the small of her back while the other laced itself in her hair before pushing her down for another rough kiss. He pulled away from her lips as she grumbled at him for a moment before he said, "I applaud your effort to seduce me, but I'm in control now."

He flipped her onto her back on the sofa once more, kissing and nipping at her before he said, "You like being held back against your will?" He grabbed her wrists, pulling them up above her head while pushing them down before kissing her again. He pulled away after a moment of sloppily kissing to say, "I'll have to keep this in mind for tomorrow night." He placed a quick kiss on her lips, as he let go of her hands and stood up from the sofa. He stood watching her chest heave up and down from their frantic kissing as he tried to subdue his own breathing. His manhood throbbed inside his pants at the sight of her, ravaged and weak, with her eyes glazed over from their sudden contact, as he thought, _'She looks amazing like this. I can just imagine what she'd look like without her clothes on! If only it was her birthday already! I'd give anything to make her mine right now!' _

"Why did you stop?" she asked managing enough strength to sit up on the sofa, her eyes still glazed over as they looked to him uncertainly before shifting herself to a purposeful position. She sat on the edge of the sofa, her hands reaching up to the waist band of his pants to fiddle with his belt. She licked her lips suggestively as she finally figured out how to unhook it so she could unzip his pants; pushing them, and his boxers, down to the ground. "I wanted to do this last night but you fell asleep so quickly after you left the bathroom. I felt so annoyed. But now, I can finally do this," she said as she grabbed hold of his manhood, before she began to suck on him.

"Mmmm oh Serena…we…we shouldn't…ohhhh…gah!" he tried to say as she took the full length of him inside her mouth. He felt the tip of him brush against the back of her throat, causing her to gag a bit while he took that moment to groan out loudly; grabbing the top of her head while thrusting his hips involuntarily. She moaned against his rock hard member in her throat as she slowly pulled him out, licking his shaft as she went; suppressing another gag reflex.

"What were you saying Augustine?" she asked, holding him with her left hand while letting the head of his cock rest against the side of her mouth. She looked at him inquisitively as he looked down at her, taking in the look of his lover with his cock to her mouth, shivering as he thought, _'This is real! She's actually sitting right here, sucking me off! But I need to get a hold on this situation or her mother will break in here and…well I don't want to think about what would happen then. I shouldn't let her blessing go to waste. I need to…oh my god! Her mouth is amazing!' _As he stood thinking about what he should do next, Serena took it upon herself to lick him again, while shoving him back inside her mouth. She bobbed her head slowly at first up and down his member before she really started to work him over.

"Oh Serena! I'm so close already! Please don't…don't stop! Juste comme ca…sucer plus! Ohhhh Serenaaaaa!" he exclaimed as he felt his climax bubbling up to the surface. He stole one last look at her face, seeing her look up to him with her glazed over eyes, as she pulled him out of her mouth to say, "Cum for me Augustine! Right inside my mouth! I've waited so long to know what you taste like!" She forced him back inside her mouth, sucking harder on him as he finally let himself go; cuming inside her like she said. He clasped his left hand up to his forehead, throwing his head back as he felt the last bits of his release pump out of him; groaning loudly all the while.

She pulled him out of her mouth, swallowing every last drop of his cum down as he shakily walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her; leaning on the back of the sofa tiredly. She leaned back against the sofa, cuddling next to him as he managed to say, "Oh mon dieu! That was amazing! But where did you learn to do that?"

"Drasna showed me," she said, as he shuttered at the image forming in his mind. "Not like that Augustine!" she said, punching his arm while pulling away from his side, disgusted by his shuttering. "I told her how much I love you and that I want to make you happy…you know…in THAT sense so she gave me some of her…magazines and movies. She even let me watch them in her chambers up at the Pokemon League," she said as he looked to her in surprise.

"Why did Drasna have those on her?" he asked still surprised, as he stood up to pull his pants back up.

As he looped his belt together she stood next to him and said, "I don't know, nor do I want to know how she got them. All I know is that they were very…educational…to say the least." He turned to face her as he smiled at her in satisfaction, pulling her in for an endearing hug while saying, "Yes they were. Now you should go. Before your mother, AND Diantha, come after you for making them late."

"What about you?" she asked, looking up at him as he stroked her face gently, smiling warmly at her.

"I'll be here, taking a bath," he replied chuckling at her confused face. "We need an alibi for what's been keeping us so long, and for your glowing red face," he said as her face contorted from confusion to embarrassment as she placed her hands on her face feeling just how warm she was. She ran to the bathroom to check how much she truly was glowing as she screamed in shock at the sight of her beet red face.

"OH MY GOODNESS! I REALLY AM GLOWING!" she exclaimed as the Professor stood in the doorway, chuckling at her reaction. She threw him a scalding glare as he stopped chuckling immediately feeling mildly fearful for his life all of a sudden. "Oh what am I going to do?! What am I going to say to them?! You know they'll ask why my face is so red! What should I do?!" she asked, pulling at her face frantically.

"You could just tell them that while you were leaving the room you saw me naked?" he suggested, shrugging his shoulders as she stopped panicking and looked at him; a thoughtful looked dawning on her face at his suggestion.

"OH! That might work!" she said, curling her right hand into a fist as she smacked it against her open palm of her left hand. "But what about you?" she asked looking at his face, noticing how red it was; just the same as hers.

"What do you - OH MY!" he said looking at himself in the mirror as she took her turn to chuckle at him this time. He looked at her, trying to scowl but failing miserably as she burst out laughing.

"Scowling doesn't suit your handsome face, mon prince charmant," she said, as he quickly turned to face her, surprise etched on his face as he realized she'd said something in his native accent.

He scooped her up in his arms as he said, "I really do love you Serena. And one day in our future together, I'd like to make you more than just my girlfriend." Her face lit up once more as she snuggled closer to his chest. "I'd love that very much, Augustine," she said as she began to unbutton his shirt for him.

"Serena, if you keep on undressing me, I'll have no other choice but to repay you for what you did for me just a moment ago," he said, a low growl in his voice as she stopped unbuttoning his shirt just above the waist band of his pants. She felt a wetness form inside her panties as she thought, _'I want this so much! But if I don't go, I'll regret it later.' _

"I…I should go…" she managed to say as she walked away from him, her legs shaky as she bumped into the door frame. "OW! Damn it!" she exclaimed as she smacked her knee off of it.

"Are you alright mon amour?" he asked looking to her with concern as she rubbed the spot on her knee which had connected with the frame.

"I'm fine! I'll just uhh let you do what you have to do and meet you down stairs with the others!" she said, as she smiled weakly at him before heading out of the bathroom; closing the door behind her while hearing him chuckle lightly at her. She cursed at her knee one more time before retrieving her strappy purse from the coffee table in the main room. When she heard the bath water begin to run in the bathroom, she said to herself, "I can't believe I just sucked him off like that! He tasted so good, salty but OH so good." She felt her face redden again, cursing her inability to stop it from doing that, as she walked over to the coat hook to grab her hat. She looked at the bathroom door longingly before placing the hat on her head and walking out the door; cringing at what her mother will say next.


	7. Chapter 7

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Seven

"There you are! It's about time you got here!" exclaimed Serena's mother as Serena joined her, Diantha and Shauna in the main lobby of Hotel Richissime.

"Yeah Rina! What took you so long?" Shauna asked as Diantha looked to the girl as if she had just gotten off the boat. _'I guess she is still a virgin. Can't really judge her too harshly, but still, I wonder if she has an active imagination,' _Diantha thought as Shauna looked Serena over quickly before flushing up in realization. "OH! Were you…and Professor Sycamore…you know…" she said, as Diantha threw the girl a smile. _'She does have an imagination!' _Diantha said as she turned her attention from Shauna's bright red face, to Serena's looking at her incredulously when she didn't reply to Shauna's question immediately.

"You two DID didn't you?!" Diantha asked as Serena's mother looked to her daughter, confused as a side of her wanted to be proud of her. While another side wanted to chastise her for having sex with the older man before she's old enough to get away with it completely.

"What were you THINKING?! You're still seventeen! Couldn't you wait just ONE MORE DAY?!" her mother exclaimed, giving into the negative side while also inadvertently making a scene in the lobby.

Serena looked at her mother angrily as she said, "Augustine and I DIDN'T have sex! We did make out a bit but we know better than to screw around right now!" She looked at the three women, their faces contorted into incredulous looks as Shauna asked, "Ok then, but why is your face so red?" Serena bowed her head for a moment, thinking back to the alibi the Professor told her to say. She looked back to the women, her face redder than before as she replied, "I was leaving the room when I passed by the bathroom…and well…I didn't know he was going to have a bath!"

"You saw him naked by accident didn't you?" Diantha asked, trying very hard to suppress her laughter. Diantha looked to Serena's mother, who was also trying very hard to suppress her own laughter as she walked up to her daughter, hugging her consolingly.

Serena let her mother hug her without saying another word on the subject. "It's alright, sweetheart. It happens, especially when you're in love, you'll see it MUCH more often," her mother cooed, stroking Serena's head gently.

"Will I get used to it?" Serena asked against her mother's chest, as she thought, _'This is working far TOO well. Thank you Augustine for the suggestion! I love him so much!' _

"Well if you still want to have sex with him tomorrow night, you better get used to it!" Diantha said, thinking back to what she and the others over heard upon their arrival to the city just two nights previous. "Plus if you think about it, this is probably a good thing! You don't want your first time to end abruptly with you giggling uncontrollably at his naked body! That'd hurt his feelings too much, you know, bruise his ego and what not," Diantha said matter-of-factly, winking happily to the girl, as Serena managed to pull away from her mother's hug.

"She has a point dear!" her mother said thoughtfully. "My first time with your father ended like that. I didn't hear the end of it for DAYS afterward," she said happily at first, as if to make a joke out of it, but looked down sadly at the memory of her husband.

"Mom?" Serena asked as she looked to her mother's sad face as she realized why she was suddenly so depressed. "Please don't think about him now. He made his choice, and you've made yours," she said, placing her right hand on her mother's shoulder consolingly.

Her mother looked at Serena, suppressing a tear from escaping from her right eye as she tried to plant a weak smile on her face. "You're right, I'm sorry sweetheart," she managed to say as a thought dawned on her. "Oh yeah! Have I told you yet that I've been dating someone?" she asked as Serena, Diantha and Shauna looked to her incredulously.

"No, you haven't," Serena said, feeling mildly hurt that her mother just admitted to keeping something so important from her.

Serena's mother sensed the hurt in her daughter's voice as she said, "Oh don't feel so hurt dear! It's not like I've been seeing this guy for very long either!"

"How come you haven't told me about it until now?" Serena said, trying her hardest to not be overly mad at her mother.

"I've had to take care of you with your depressing attitude for three weeks, as well as worrying like a mad woman while you were sick yesterday!" her mother replied as Serena looked to her with an annoyed look forming on her face.

"You went out SHOPPING yesterday with MY friends! You weren't worried THAT much!" she said, giving into her anger as Diantha stepped between them; in case of a fight.

"Now now, no fighting you two!" Diantha said, holding her hands up to keep them from getting any closer to each other. "Love should be celebrated! Especially since it's clearly running in the family!" she said, as the other two women looked to Diantha thoughtfully before looking at each other bashfully.

"She's got a point Rina! Ms. Rina!" Shauna said, placing her hands on her hips as she stared at the two women pointedly.

"Fine, I'll drop it," Serena said, as her mother nodded in agreement.

A moment passed by before Serena finally asked, "So what's the guy's name? How and when did you meet?"

"You really want to know?" her mother asked as she and the other women sat down on the sofas nearby them. Serena took a seat next to Diantha, looking across the coffee table to her mother before nodding her reply.

"His name is Damien. We met two weeks before you came home sweetheart. He said that he'd just gotten to the Kalos region after traveling around the Unova region for two years. And no, he's not your age if that's what you're thinking. I'm not a cradle robber like your Professor Pervert!" her mother replied as Serena looked at her mother angrily.

Her mother didn't notice Serena's angry face as she placed an index finger up to her face and thoughtfully said, "Oh now that I think about it, Damien is probably a couple years younger than your lover boy Professor. And how we met, hmmm let me think…OH! That's right! I was coming back from running an errand to Aquacorde Town, approaching the lane the house is on, and he was passed out on the ground. I had one of those "Hiker" guys help me bring Damien inside the house. When he came to, he told me pretty much what I just told you." She looked at her daughter while shrugging her shoulders before continuing, "And well I fell in love with him, and he fell for me. I let him stay at the house for a couple days before setting him up with his own place in Santalune City. We've been in contact with each other ever since then."

"Even while I was home?" Serena said, as all anger drained from her face, replaced by a minute amount of sadness.

"For the first little while, remember when you wouldn't come out of your room? Well that's when him and I would talk together on our Holo Casters. Before you ask, no I didn't buy him a Holo Caster, he had bought one right here in Lumiose City before he wound up in Vaniville Town," her mother replied, as she took notice of Serena's concerned face.

"Oh good, I know your love life hasn't been that great since dad left, but I'm glad that you've finally found someone to love you," Serena said, letting out a small sigh before smiling warmly to her mother.

"You're pulling my leg right?" her mother asked incredulously as Serena continued to smile at her warmly.

"I mean it, I'm happy you're finally happy mom. Like Diantha said, it's certainly running in the family right now," Serena said, as she thought about the Professor up in the luxury suite; wondering what he was doing at that moment.

After Serena left the room to join up with the others down in the lobby, the Professor quickly walked back to the bedroom to retrieve his clothes bag before heading back inside the bathroom. He ran his bath water, fiddling with the temperature knobs before walking back to the sink and mirror. He looked at his reflection and said to himself, "I still can't believe Serena is in love with…well this!" He leaned closer to the mirror to get a better look at his face, grabbing his jaw and chin as he noticed that he desperately needed a shave. "I guess that's what happens when I haven't shaved in a while," he said as he let go of his jaw and chin, looking this time at the bags under his eyes. "I know I slept last night, but because of all the research I've had to deal with leading up to now, sure as heck doesn't look like I slept at all!" he said, letting go of his face entirely as he walked over to the tub; turning the water off when it was at the appropriate level.

He unbuttoned his silk, ultramarine blue shirt, slipping it off his slim yet perfectly toned body, before unhooking his belt; pushing his pants and boxers off of him. Instantaneously he thought to what had transpired between him and Serena mere moments ago, remembering the suggestive look on her face before she wrapped her mouth around his arousal. That image made his manhood throb against his inner thigh as he said, "Keep it together man! She's really lit my fire that's for sure!"

He ditched his clothes on the floor, as well as his lewd thoughts of Serena's mouth back on his cock, bobbing away at him, as he stepped into the bath. He sighed happily and mightily as he felt the warm waters envelope him completely as he stretched out his legs under the water while stretching out his arms behind him on the edge of the bath tub. "Now this is a luxury bath! I wish I had this in my loft back at the lab! So soothing!" he said, feeling every muscle in his long, lean body relax for the first time in ages.

"I wonder what Serena is doing right now," he said before dipping his head under the water quickly, resurfacing for air while wiping his hair away from his face. He slicked his hair back with the bath water and the steam in the room as he relaxed once more against the wall of the tub; his back to the door. "I hope her mother and Diantha didn't give her too much trouble. But I'm sure she can handle herself just fine," he said as he reached for a nearby wash cloth. "I'm just glad that she's feeling better now. I was really worried about her, but she's better now and that's all that matters," he said, as he began to wash himself, starting first with his arms before working his way down his well toned pale chest.

As he worked the wash cloth down his middle, scrubbing every inch of his skin as he went, it passed by his groin for a brief moment. It took that moment for his mind to wander off, reliving his close encounter with his lover. He threw his head back, nearly connecting with the edge of the tub, as he felt his cock throb under the water. He quickly looked down at it, and the wash cloth as he debated on what to do next.

'_Should I give in and pleasure myself, thinking of Serena's beautiful mouth on me? Or better yet, should I pleasure myself to the thought of her perfect, naked body sitting on my lap right here in the bath. Her perky, yet large, breasts bouncing around frantically as I pound against her and make her mine? Oh yes, that's what I'll think about,' _he thought as that very image formed in his mind while his right hand absentmindedly grabbed hold of the wash cloth and himself; pumping away at himself under the water.

"Ohhhhh Serena…the things you do to me…" he said, ditching the wash cloth in the water, before wrapping his hand completely around himself; pumping harder as the image of her bright pink face and glazed eyes invaded him next. _'I normally don't ever feel up for pleasuring myself after I've finished once before, but I just can't help myself when I think about her. Every inch of her, from her face to her breasts to her hips and her beautifully long legs…ohhhh I can't believe that I'm so close again!' _he thought desperately as his pumping became faster; water splashing up in his face as he went.

'_Oh Augustine…' _came her voice, ringing in his mind as he felt his release come to him unexpectedly. "OH SERENAAA!" he exclaimed as he pumped out his second release under the water, slowly steadying his hand and muscles before laying his head back against the edge of the tub; his breath ragged and strained. "I should probably get out now," he said, looking around at the bath water, noticing the mixture of his release and water floating around his body.

After he drained the water in the tub, and dried off, he quickly dressed himself in another one of his ultramarine blue shirts; popping the collar up while buttoning up the buttons. He put on his pants next, looping his belt through the belt loops of his pants before pulling on a new clean pair of socks. He brushed his hair next, pulling it into a slicked back kind of look. He then pulled out his electric razor, plugging it into the wall as he began to shave his face. "Ahh perfect!" he said, turning the razor off after a few minutes, unplugging it and wrapping it back up before placing it back inside his clothes bag.

He took one last look at himself in the mirror, making sure everything was properly in its place before heading out of the room. "Sounds like you had a very…invigorating…bath, Professor," said a voice as he walked back inside the main seating room. He stopped dead in his tracks as he took one look at where the voice had come from, before feeling a large blunt object connect with his head; knocking him unconscious against the floor.

"Where's Calem?" Serena asked Shauna, as Shauna put an index finger up to her face to think about Serena's question. When the answer came to her she said, "OH! He said that he needed to go to the Pokemon Center to buy some Pokeballs. OH and you don't have to worry about talking to the Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center by the Professor's lab."

Serena looked to her friend confusedly at first before realization dawned on her. "OH YEAH! I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, smacking her right palm to her forehead as her realization sunk in completely. "I was supposed to apply for that assistant job! But what do you mean I don't need to talk to the Nurse Joy there?" Serena asked, confusion returning to her face once more.

"We did that yesterday morning while you were sleeping, you know, before the Professor came by the first time that day," Shauna said as the confusion drained from Serena's face completely.

"What did she say? Did she give me the job?" Serena asked, hoping that her friends were able to put in a good word for her while she was sick.

"She said that she hoped that you get better and that she said that you can have the job after your birthday," Shauna said happily as Serena's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"YAY! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOUUUU!" Serena exclaimed, launching herself on her friend, hugging her and shaking her happily.

Shauna laughed happily with her friend, her face flaring up embarrassedly as she felt Serena's chest push against her arm before saying, "You're welcome Rina! You know we'd help you out when ever you need it."

"That's why I love you guys!" Serena said, still laughing as her mother and Diantha smiled at the giggling girls. "So where did we want to go first?" Serena asked after a moment of calming herself down while still smiling happily. She sat next to Shauna while waiting for a response from one of the women surrounding her.

"If I remember correctly, I thought I had seen a sign by a lingerie store for a sale they're having," said her mother thoughtfully.

"OH YEAH! I remember seeing that too!" Shauna exclaimed excitedly.

"So ladies, shall we go and get some sexy lingerie for our men?" asked Serena's mother, standing from her seat while winking suggestively.

"I can come too? I do need something sexy to wear for tomorrow night," Serena said, thinking about the type of panties and bras she has in her suitcase; realizing that none of them were remotely sexy.

"Oh no! You stay here, and wait for your lover boy!" exclaimed Serena's mother before continuing, "There is no way in HELL that I'd take you shopping for sexy lingerie! That's something a mother should do for her daughter for AFTER the daughter's successfully had sex."

Serena scowled at her mother before asking, "Then who did you mean when you said that?"

"Shauna and Diantha of course!" her mother exclaimed as Serena threw Diantha a wink and a smile as she knew exactly who Diantha was dating.

"So you and Siebold ARE dating, aren't you?" Serena said pointedly at Diantha as Shauna looked to Diantha incredulously; causing Diantha to jump up from her seat.

Diantha took a quick step back from the group for a moment but knew that she had been caught by the younger girls, stepping back to her original spot before throwing Serena's mother a scolding glare. "I thought I could trust you Grace!" she said indignantly, folding her arms across her chest and pouting at Serena's mother.

"What do you mean? I didn't tell her anything!" said Grace, as she looked to Diantha angrily.

"Then how do you know?" Diantha asked Serena as Serena flashed her a smile; she thought it was funny that the two women were on edge with each other for once.

"Well, there are numerous ways that I know," Serena began, standing from her seat to pace around, the smile plastered itself on her face now. "There was that one time when you came back to the Pokemon League building, drunk off your ass, exclaiming how much you "loooove" him," she said, as Grace snickered at Diantha. "OH and there was that time after that when the two of you went out on your first date. If I remember correctly, the rest of us up at the League didn't see either of you for two months until you sent us a postcard from Kiloude City! It said that you two were thinking about getting married while down there which prompted the rest of us, with the exception of Drasna who thought it was cute what you guys were doing, to get down there and haul you back to the League and reality!"

Grace lost control of herself as she toppled over off of the sofa laughing out loud, while Shauna sat rooted to the sofa unsure if she should show restraint for Diantha's sake, or join Grace's laughter at what Serena had just said. Diantha lost her composure as she bowed her head sadly; realizing that she had truly been caught red handed.

"Ok, ok. You got me. Siebold and I are dating but we are having some trouble lately," she said, holding her hands up to show defeat while raising her head up to look at the others.

Serena looked at Diantha curiously as the smile upon her face faded away before she asked, "What do you mean, you guys are having trouble? In the bedroom?" Diantha and the others looked over to Serena, stunned that she asked such a direct question as Serena put her hands up defensively before saying, "What? Some one had to ask!"

"Well your mother already asked me that and I'll tell you what I told her. No we aren't having issues of that nature," Diantha said, eying Serena while thinking, _'Like mother, like daughter.' _

"Then, what sort of issues are you having Ms. Diantha?" Shauna asked, feeling the need to weigh in on the conversation.

"Ok, I'll tell you. I think he's…cheating on me!" she said exasperatedly as she flopped back on sofa while Grace recomposed herself; sitting next to her new friend before wrapping a consoling arm around her shoulders.

"What makes you think he's cheating on you? And if he is, do you know who it is?" Grace asked, as Serena sat next Shauna, the two girls waiting with baited breath for Diantha's answer.

"Well, when ever I go to see him at the League building, he doesn't even say hi to me!" she said, dropping her face dramatically into her hands as she began to sob a little.

Grace looked at Diantha confusedly as she said, "I don't think he's cheating on you just because he doesn't acknowledge you when he sees you."

"Then what could it be? WHO could it be?! I feel so LOST Grace!" Diantha said, looking up at her friend pleadingly before burying her face against Grace's shoulder.

"You know what will help you feel better?" Grace said thoughtfully as Diantha looked to her for guidance. Serena and Shauna watched the women before them feeling as though they had been left out of the conversation completely.

"What will make me feel better Grace?" Diantha asked, as she took a napkin out from her coat pocket to wipe her tears away from her eyes.

"We should go to that lingerie sale and buy you a little pick me up while we're there! It'll help you boost your confidence and who knows, you might find that special something that will help you with your problem with Siebold!" Grace said, smiling to her friend before jumping up from her seat; pulling Diantha up with her as she went. "And you should come too Shauna! You're old enough for it!" Grace said, smiling brightly to the embarrassed teenager as Serena threw her a scolding look.

"What about me?!" she exclaimed angrily as her mother rounded on her; making Serena feel scared for her life at that moment.

"I thought we've been over this already! Besides you need to wait here for Calem to return! AND you need to wait for your lover boy Professor to get down here!" Grace said, folding her arms across her chest angrily, as Serena looked to her mother, scared at first but then thoughtful suddenly.

"What about Tierno and Trevor? Where are they anyway?" she asked as Shauna stood up from her seat on the sofa and turned to face her friend.

"OH they called us on Tierno's Holo Caster. They said that they went out this morning for some breakfast at Café Ultimo before heading out for their own shopping trip," Shauna replied, walking over to the older women while placing an index finger up to her face thoughtfully. "I think they said that they're going to meet us later at the Prism Tower for lunch," she said simply.

"Oh ok, well then you guys have fun at that lingerie store. I'll just be here, by myself, waiting, alone," Serena said, waving to her mother, Diantha and Shauna as they began to walk out of the hotel; waving back at her as they went.

As they left the hotel, Calem walked in carrying his bag filled to the brim with potions and Pokeballs as he spotted Serena sitting on one of the lobby's sofas. He watched her for a moment, noticing the way her body looked in her new outfit. _'I know her mother bought that for her, but I didn't think she'd look THAT great in it!' _he thought, feeling his cheeks warm up as he looked her over; from top to bottom. Luckily she wasn't facing him at that moment which allowed him enough time to drink her in; lewd thoughts of her plaguing his mind. But they were put to rest as she finally spotted him from across the room, waving him over to where she sat; smiling happily to him all the while. He breathed in a quick sigh, pushing the last of his lewd fantasies away, as he walked over to her; plastering a weak smile to his face.

"It's about time you got back!" she said exasperatedly, as he took a seat next to her on the sofa; placing his bag on the floor in front of him at the same time.

"Thanks for the 'warm' welcome," he said sarcastically, before he slapped himself mentally. _'That was a bit much, even for me!' _he thought, as he prayed that she wouldn't acknowledge his harsh tone.

"Well you're VERY welcome, Calem," she said just as sarcastically back, looking to him angrily as he slapped himself harder mentally. _'Damn it! She noticed! I'm doomed now!' _he thought, as a panicked look took over his face causing her to laugh at him suddenly; nearly scaring him half to death in the process. "Oh don't be so scared of me! It's ok, I was a bit of a pill first. I'm sorry, I deserved your sarcasm," she said, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. Her laughter intensified as she felt him cringe at her touch. "You know I don't bite, Calem! You need to relax!" she said, as he finally decided to take her advice; while she stopped laughing at him.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry too. I know you don't bite, I've just been preoccupied mentally lately," he said as she snickered at him.

"So, been having sexy thoughts about Shauna eh?" she asked, as he cringed up again. "How long have you guys been dating anyway? I don't think you even told me that you started dating until just a couple days ago!" she said, feeling mildly hurt while also showing how hurt she is by pouting at him.

"We wanted to tell you, but you weren't at the Pokemon League! We asked the other members of the Elite Four if they knew where you were, but they didn't know. Malva thought you had gone off to the Tower of Mastery to brush up on your knowledge of Mega Evolution. But I guess she was wrong eh?" he said, defending himself from her guilty face.

"Yeah I guess so," she said, draining her face of guilt and restoring it back to a look of thoughtfulness as she asked, "Did you get a message from Tierno and Trevor about when they wanted to meet up for lunch?" He looked to her confusedly for a moment before asking his own question, "No, why do you ask?" "Well Shauna and the others said that the boys messaged them earlier about all of us meeting up at the Prism Tower for lunch. But they didn't say what time exactly they wanted to meet up at. Just that, they wanted to meet up by the Prism Tower…" she said, her voice trailing off as she looked deeper into what she just said.

"That sounds strange. They told me that they were thinking about all of us meeting up at the Galette stand, not the Prism Tower," Calem said, looking to Serena thoughtfully.

"I'll give them a call and ask then," she said, pulling out her Holo Caster, dialling out Tierno's number. She waited for a moment, figuring he was in the bathroom and couldn't get to his Holo Caster right away, but when it sent her to voice mail, she began to worry.

"I'll try Trevor's then," Calem said, digging around inside his bag, right down to the very bottom of it until he finally found his Holo Caster. He dialled out Trevor's number and instead of waiting for him to answer, it went straight away to his voice mail. "This is very strange, even for them. Not answering their Holo Casters. Trevor's Holo Caster going right to voice mail. I wonder if they even left at all this morning," Calem said as a wave of fear swept over them suddenly.

Serena leapt up from her seat, retrieving her purse with ease as she ran over to the elevator; impatiently pressing the button. "Ok, you go on ahead! I'll be right behind you!" Calem said, as he wrestled with his bag; spilling potions and Pokeballs all over the floor.

When the elevator finally made it to the ground floor, Serena dove inside it, as a young honeymooning couple leapt out of her way; scoffing at her as they went. She didn't take notice of their annoyance as she slammed her fist onto the button for the third floor, the doors closed quickly as elevator zoomed up to the third floor.

As the elevator stopped on the desired floor, Serena sighed exasperatedly as she tore out of it as soon as the doors slid open. She ran down the hall towards their separate rooms as she stopped dead, noticing both doors to their rooms left open slightly ajar; their belonging scattered on the floor. She walked over to the open doors, her right hand defensively resting inside her purse, clutching her Greninja's Pokeball as she slowly pushed the door to Trevor's room open.

"RINA! HEY RI…na…" came Calem's voice as he neared her spot a few moments later. He stood stalk still by her side, peering over her shoulder to look at what had her attention. His mouth dropped open as he saw the room had been completely toppled; clothes, shopping bags and books littering every inch of the floor. He managed to peel himself away to check on Tierno's room, and stopped dead in his tracks at the door as he noticed that Tierno's room was in the same state as Trevor's.

"Something happened here, there's no doubt about that," he said, as she squeaked out loud suddenly. He jumped at her sudden noise, watching her pull out her Holo Caster again as she began to dial out frantically. _'I think I know who she's trying to call,' _he thought, as the sound of the Professor's voice rang out around them.

"OH THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE OK AUGUSTINE!" Serena exclaimed at the sight of his holographic image suddenly taking form in her hand.

"I'm sorry I can't take your call right now. I either away from my desk or asleep at it, and for that I apologize," he said, as the image scratched the back of his head, while her heart sank in her chest. _'It went to his voice mail too? This can't be a coincidence, something bad is happening,' _Calem thought as realization hit him while he noticed a tear build up in Serena's eye.

She said nothing to Calem as she raced off once more toward the elevator, again impatiently pressing the button for it to come to her. He managed to keep up with her this time, standing beside her as the elevator doors slid open once more. He wanted to say something to her, to comfort her but she tore off inside the elevator, slamming her fist against the button for the fifth floor this time as he dove inside; just in time too.

They stood inside the elevator in an awkward silence for a moment before Calem made up his mind and said, "I'm sure he's ok. He has his Charizard with him!" She refused to look at him, the same tear he thought he'd seen build up in the corner of her right eye, ran down her face at his words. When the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, she flew out of the elevator car and down the hall. Calem ran off after her, as he stopped right behind her as she said, "No…no, no, no, no, NOOO!"

She fell to her knees sadly just inside the room as Calem looked onward, noticing the bathroom door open ajar with the Professor's bag sitting in a mess just outside of it. He looked at Serena's sad, dishevelled demeanour on the floor in front of him as her Holo Caster rang out in her right palm. "Rina, your Holo Caster is ringing," he said, kneeling down behind her, his right hand soothingly rubbing her back to keep her calm while also attempting to bring her back to reality.

After a moment he thought she didn't hear him nor the incessantly ringing Holo Caster as she finally looked down to it first then up to him before saying, "Oh…yeah…so…it…is…I…should…answer it…yeah?" Calem nodded to her silently as she brought the Holo Caster up to her face, pressing the answering button as a booming male voice sounded out through the audio at first. "Champion, I need to speak to you. I'll be waiting for you out just outside Route fourteen's gate to Lumiose City, by the park area. And please don't make me wait long, I have some information you need to hear," said the powerful voice as Calem looked to the Holo Caster curiously while trying to put a face to the voice. "Yes…I'll…be…there…soon…Lysandre…" Serena said in a shaky voice as Calem stood up from Serena's back quickly; as if she had changed to something very vile suddenly.

"Lysandre?! What?!" he asked as she turned off her Holo Caster with a shaky hand before standing up and facing her friend; a look of despair plaguing her once happy face.

"Yes, Lysandre," she said quietly to her friend before heading off to the meeting place, looking as if she were heading off to a funeral.


	8. Chapter 8

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Eight

"_Champion, I need to speak to you. I'll be waiting for you out just outside Route fourteen's gate to Lumiose City, by the park area. And please don't make me wait long, I have some information you need to hear," said the powerful voice as Calem looked to the Holo Caster curiously while trying to put a face to the voice. "Yes…I'll…be…there…soon…Lysandre…" Serena said in a shaky voice as Calem stood up from Serena's back quickly; as if she had changed to something very vile suddenly. _

"_Lysandre?! What?!" he asked as she turned off her Holo Caster with a shaky hand before standing up and facing her friend; a look of despair plaguing her once happy face._

"_Yes, Lysandre," she said quietly to her friend before heading off to the meeting place, looking as if she were heading off to a funeral. _

"Rina! What is going on?! Who was that?! Was that really Lysandre?! And if it was, why is he still alive?!" Calem exclaimed angrily as he followed after his friend, out of the hotel and down the street to the Pokemon center nearby first. When Serena refused to say anything to him, walking over to the computer to exchange one of her Pokemon for another, Calem slammed his fist against the side of the computer to get her attention. The Nurse Joy at the counter nearby threw him a glaring look as he looked to her for a moment apologetically. "Sorry Nurse Joy!" he said, waving at her as she looked away huffily. Serena took that moment to finish up what she was doing on the computer, picking up the newly transferred Pokeball from the bottom dispenser below the computer screen and walked out of the Pokemon Center.

"Damn it Serena! Don't walk away from me!" Calem exclaimed, causing Serena to stop dead in her tracks just outside of the Pokemon Center. She turned around finally looking him in the eye as he felt taken aback as he noticed her face had been drenched in silent tears; her eyes red and bloodshot from her crying.

"I'll explain everything. Come with me," she said simply turning back to the way she had begun to walk as Calem shook away his feeling to console her and followed her down a side alley.

When they were finally alone from the public eye, he leaned against a wall while making an attempt to calm himself down. "Will you please tell me what is going on?"

"Calem, I'm sorry. I should have told you and the others when this happened two years ago but, well here goes. Two years ago, about four days after the events at Geosenge Town I met up with Augustine in Couriway Town. After he challenged me to a battle, which I won, he told me that he felt terrible for Lysandre's behaviour and that if he had talked him out of it, none of that would have happened in the first place. I felt bad for Augustine's inability to have his last word with his friend. And I felt bad for Lysandre as I always felt as if he had a good heart, even though he went the wrong way with expressing himself properly. So, I went back to Geosenge Town, to reflect upon my thoughts and feelings for both of the men.

When I got there, looking down into the pit where the machine was, I saw Lysandre crawling out of the rubble. I thought I had been seeing things, thinking that what I had been seeing was a ghost but that thought was dashed away when I heard him call out my name. That's when I used my Greninja and Charizard to pull him out. As we worked on that, a nearby townsperson saw what I was doing and came to help out. Lysandre…he looked so terrible…" she said, searching Calem's eyes for understanding and when she found it, she continued on. "That townsperson who helped my Pokemon and I with pulling Lysandre out of the rubble, he said that Lysandre can stay with him until he was back up on his feet. I was grateful for that man's help, I even offered to pay for Lysandre's room and board but the man said that it was ok and that I didn't have to worry about it. Lysandre said how grateful he was that I helped him out of that hole, and told me that he will repay me when ever I needed help. After that, I left Geosenge Town and continued on my journey."

"Was that the last time you saw him?" Calem asked, as Serena finished her story.

"No, just before I met up with Augustine in Anistar City, I flew back to Geosenge Town and asked Lysandre for advise on my confession before I made it. He told me that I should do what I felt was right. He told me that he knew Augustine very well, so well that he thought that I'm the perfect woman for his friend. Even though we have an age difference, Lysandre said that its just something Augustine and I need to work on," Serena replied as Calem looked to her consolingly before looking down sadly. "OH and in that last meeting with Lysandre I gave him a couple Pokemon as his team sadly didn't make it," she said, looking at the ground sadly before turning her head back up to face Calem.

"Which ones did you give him?" he asked, as he felt his fists ball up at his sides while thinking, _'I know she meant well, but if she's so in love with the Professor, then why did she help the man that wanted the two of them dead two years ago?' _

"I gave him a Flareon, Dedenne, Floatzel and a Noibat," she replied, holding her right index finger up to her face thoughtfully; feeling the sadness from earlier dissolve a bit from her thoughts.

"There's just one thing I don't understand from all of this," Calem began as he searched his thoughts for a logical and rational way to express himself. "Even though he tried to kill you and everyone you loved two years ago, you still saved him? And gave him Pokemon? Why?" he asked, flashing a dangerous look to her, waiting for her to respond to him with baited breath.

"I understand that what he tried to do was unforgivable, but I felt really bad for the guy. I may not have known him as much as Augustine had but each time I met him I felt as though I knew him through and through. I took pity on him and I understand if you don't. I'm not going to force you to like him, hell you could hate him forever for all I care. But I feel that I can't. He's Augustine's friend, probably Diantha's friend too, and I want to show Lysandre that I have no ill feelings for him or what he tried to do in the past. I want him to be my friend too, no matter what," she said, managing to crack a small smile as Calem looked to his friend and felt his heart skip a beat as their eyes met.

"Oh…alright…fine. I'll try and hold myself back from pummelling him when we see him then," Calem said, as he tried to put humorous spin to the situation, but failed as Serena bowed her head down mournfully; painfully reminded of the issue at hand. Calem noticed her sad demeanor, stepped toward her briskly. She deftly moved away from his advance but failed as he quickly wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a friendly hug before saying, "Don't worry Rina. We'll find out what happened to the Professor and the others soon. For now, lets go see what Lysandre wants to tell us." She managed to nod silently in agreement as she let him lead her out of the alley and down the street to the gate to Route fourteen.

"Ahh there you are Champion! It's about time too!" Lysandre said, as Serena and Calem walked out of the gate, and headed over to the park benches by the swings. Lysandre sat on the bench, his legs crossed and his hands resting on his lap; fingers drumming away on his knee. He wore an all black suit once more, this time without the obvious red accents or any of his old Team Flare memorabilia. His hair is cut shorter with a single strand sticking straight up in the front; side burns still framing his face. His beard shaved away with just a bit of it left as a pointed goatee in the front.

"I'll have you know, I'm not the Champion anymore," Serena said, as she pulled herself away from Calem's side; folding her arms across her full voluptuous chest.

"Oh? You're not? Then who is? Don't tell me some kid beat you!" Lysandre said incredulously as he uncrossed his legs while leaning forward.

"I'm the Champion now," Calem said pointing to himself as Lysandre looked at him thoughtfully.

"I remember you boy. Well congratulations on beating Ms. Serena, Mister?" Lysandre said, standing from his seat on the bench; extending his right hand out to Calem.

"My name is Calem. Thank you Lysandre," Calem said, steadily taking Lysandre's hand in his while keeping eye contact with the man. "I'm surprised you're still alive. I just hope that you're not planning on destroying the world again."

"I wouldn't dream of it Calem," Lysandre said, letting go of Calem's hand as he took up his seat on the bench. He patted the spot next to him while saying, "Ms. Serena! Please have a seat, we have much to discuss ma petite princesse."

"I'm not YOUR princess, Lysandre," Serena began as she took up the seat he offered her while Calem stayed standing; continuing to eyeball Lysandre from where he stood.

"Oh that's right! Tu es Augustine's princesse, oui?" he asked, winking at her suggestively making her blush.

"Yes, I guess you could say that," she said, hiding her face from him by looking off across the park.

"So tell me Serena, have you and Augustine 'done the deed' yet?" he asked, crossing his legs again as he leaned back against the bench while flashing her a highly suggestive smile. His comment made her jump in her seat embarrassedly, her mind reeling with thoughts of what he said really meant.

She bowed her head down for a moment before looking up at him, pouting slightly as she said, "No, not yet. I'm not eighteen yet, and we want to wait until tomorrow night. Because, you know, tomorrow is my birthday." Just then a thought dawned on her as she questioned him suddenly, "Wait a minute! What are you doing here anyway? I thought we agreed that you'd stay away from Lumiose City -"

"Until the 'heat' died off? I know but you forget that we made that agreement two years ago," he said, finishing her sentence while sighing exasperatedly.

"Yes, well still, what are you doing here? Spying on me?" she asked, eying him suspiciously herself this time.

"Non, I wasn't 'spying' on you, petite chou. I was actually doing a bit of shopping FOR you," he said, as he began to dig around inside his blazer suddenly.

She kept an eye on him as he pulled his hand out of his blazer, producing a small black box. "Lysandre, I told you that I -" she began but was cut off by his rough chuckle at her embarrassed face.

"I know, you're Augustine's. I get that, so no this is not what you think it is," he said between chuckles as he opened the box. "I told you last year that I wouldn't forget your birthday, especially after the beating I endured from you when I didn't have a gift for you," he said as she looked at the contents of the box; a white ribbon hat clip sat within. She took the box from him, pulling the pin out of it before taking her hat off. She took the purple button off her hat and replaced it with the new one as she flashed a happy smile to Lysandre. "Merci, Lysandre. It's very pretty," she said, placing the purple button inside the box before putting her hat back on. She closed up the box and placed it inside her bag as Lysandre smiled at her in response.

Calem eyed Serena incredulously as he asked, "You went to see him last year?" He suddenly felt hurt for the Professor as he thought, _'Is she seeing Lysandre without anyone knowing it? They are sitting quite close together right now. Is she stringing the Professor along? I have to ask her now!' _Before Serena could reply to Calem's first question, Calem raised his voice as he asked, "ARE YOU TOYING WITH THE PROFESSOR'S FEELINGS WHILE YOU'RE SCREWING AROUND WITH HIM?!" He pointed angrily to Lysandre as Lysandre began to laugh uncontrollably; falling off of the bench and scuffing his perfectly polished suit in the process.

Serena felt incredibly angry with Calem at that moment that it took every bit of her self control to not knock him flat out on his face. "First of all, yes I went to see Lysandre last year for my birthday AFTER I visited Augustine first! I went to check on Lysandre and Pierre, the townsperson who took him in the day I saved him from the rubble of the Ultimate Weapon," she said, as she stood from her seat, balling her hands into fists at her sides; her body trembling from anger as she continued to hold herself back. "And secondly, no I'm NOT toying with Augustine's feelings and screwing around with Lysandre behind Augustine's back! I LOVE Augustine! I want him more than any other man on the planet! I want to have my first time with him! I want to one day get married to him and have his children!" Tears began to run down her face as she threw him a final dangerous look; Lysandre picked himself up off the ground and watched her with admiration. "So don't you EVER say that EVER AGAIN! Or so help me, I will end your life with my very own hands!" she said, taking a step toward Calem as Lysandre stood up from his seat.

He placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down before saying, "This is not like you Serena. Please calm down and sit, I have something I must tell you before we forget any longer."

She looked at Lysandre angrily then softened at his calm demeanour before reclaiming her seat; leaving Calem to watch her fearfully. _'I've never seen her like that! I need to apologise, and fast!' _he thought, recomposing himself before saying, "I'm sorry Rina. I promise I won't say that ever again. I just thought it was strange that you went to see Lysandre on your birthday without seeing Shauna or I. Or even Tierno or Trevor! We're your friends, and yet you don't keep in contact with us. Why? Seeing you two days ago was the first time we've all ACTUALLY seen you outside of the Pokemon League."

"I -" Serena began but was cut short by Lysandre clearing his throat abruptly. "Ok what is it that you want to tell me Lysandre?" she asked curtly, while throwing Calem a soft, apologetic smile.

"While I was shopping today I noticed a very peculiar thing," he said, brushing off her curt attitude at being interrupted by him.

"What did you see? Did you see another one of those mysterious ghost girls floating around the city?" Serena asked, annoyance still ringing true in her voice.

"I actually witnessed your pixie like friend, you know the one with the brown hair and tanned skin. Well I saw her, a woman whom I'm assuming must be your older, sexier sister, and Diantha ma belle reine, being carried off by some suspicious looking men in black wet suits," he replied, again ignoring her brash behaviour.

Serena's mind reeled suddenly, trying very hard to think about every component to Lysandre's comment. "Black wet suits? What the hell are you talking about Lysandre?" Calem asked incredulously; completely forgetting about his woes with Serena.

"Wait, were those people wearing a large motorbike like helmet?" Serena asked as she knew exactly what Lysandre was going to say next.

"Yes, but the face guards were blinking as if they were electronic," he said, as he scoffed as the image of the strange people came back to his mind. "They had no fashion sense at all!"

Serena quickly shoved her right hand roughly inside her bag, pulling out her Holo Caster while dialling a number just as fast. The two men watched her with confusion and a building curiosity in their hearts as a holographic image flashed out of her Holo Caster suddenly. "Hey Emma!" Serena said as the image of a young girl smiled happily to her; a Meowstic hanging off of her happily looking at Serena through the image.

"Hey Serena! What's up?" the girl now known as Emma asked, as Serena held the Holo Caster up so the others could see her properly.

"I just need to ask you something quick," Serena said as she thought of what to say next to her friend as Emma waited for Serena to speak. "Have you heard anything from Mister Xerosic lately?" she asked as she exchanged a knowing look with Lysandre.

"Hmmm…now that I think about it, no I haven't. At least not in the last couple months. Why do you ask?" she replied, placing a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to recall the round man who once had been a scientist for Team Flare.

"No reason, just thought I'd ask. I know you guys were close for a while after we caught him and he went to jail a year and a half ago," Serena said, looking purposefully at the bench before looking back at the holographic Emma in her hand. "Can you do me a favour? Can you call Looker and tell him to get here as fast as he can?" she asked as the two men near her watched her face calculate their next move.

"Yeah sure, but Serena, are you in trouble? I can help you if you are," Emma said as Meowstic piped up "MEOW!" from around Emma's neck.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I have my friends Calem and Lysandre with me, as well as my Pokemon. I'm sure I can handle what ever comes my way with these guys around!" she said, smiling at both men before flashing a reassuring smile to Emma. _'I hope she doesn't know who Lysandre really is,' _she thought as the smile turned to a weak one.

"Well, ok I guess. I'll call Looker right away. Is there any specific area you want him to meet you at? You know he'll ask," she said rolling her eyes as Serena chuckled faintly at her friend.

"Tell him to meet me at the Magenta Plaza," she said as a funny thought hit her. "Oh and tell him that it will only take three minutes of his time."

Emma laughed at Serena's comment as she said, "Ok ok I will. OH and happy birthday tomorrow! Meowstic and I were going to come see you tomorrow at the Pokemon League but we've got a really important appointment we can't bail out of. I hope you understand."

"Yeah it's ok, I understand. Thanks Emma, you're awesome," Serena said, as Meowstic looked at Serena angrily before Serena put up her free hand defensively and said, "You're awesome too Meowstic!" Meowstic smiled happily to Serena as the two girls ended their conversation chuckling.

"Talk to you later Emma!" Serena said as the girl on the other end waved happily before disappearing completely.

A heavy silence fell around the group sitting by the park on Route fourteen before Lysandre broke it, "So, Xerosic huh?" He folded his arms across his lean chest as he thought back to the man in question.

"Yeah, seems like it's him. It HAS to be him," she said, looking to the ground with a mixture of sadness and anger plaguing her face and voice.

"Wasn't that the guy you and that Looker guy put in jail for stealing other people's Pokemon?" Calem asked as he remembered the news cast from that day a year and a half ago.

"Yes, the very same unfortunately," she said, putting her Holo Caster back inside her bag before resting her back against the bench; exchanging a weary look with Lysandre.

"What's wrong? Is he a tough enemy?" Calem asked as he noticed their weary exchange, feeling fearful suddenly.

"He was once one of my best scientists in my organization. He is not a person to take very lightly. If you thought I was a terrible person for my ideals, he's equally horrifying with the technology he can produce," Lysandre said, arching an eyebrow to Calem as Calem looked back at him knowing what he was getting at.

"He was the one who knew how to control the Ultimate Weapon, wasn't he?" Calem asked incredulously, as Lysandre merely nodded to the youth; insinuating that was his answer. Calem sat on the bench next to Serena and Lysandre, lost for words as he asked in a hushed tone, "What do we do now? If he did take everyone, why did he? What does he want with everyone?"

Another heavy silence fell around them as they all began to contemplate their next, and final move. Serena broke the silence as she stood up from the bench quickly, pulling out the newest addition to her team; the one she had transferred from her PC box earlier. She held the ball to her face, staring at it while she thought about her friend's faces. A flash of Augustine's happy face flashed in her mind as she fought back tears while saying, "We're going to go find out!"


	9. Chapter 9

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Nine

_Calem sat on the bench next to Serena and Lysandre, lost for words as he asked in a hushed tone, "What do we do now? If he did take everyone, why did he? What does he want with everyone?"_

_Another heavy silence fell around them as they all began to contemplate their next, and final move. Serena broke the silence as she stood up from the bench quickly, pulling out the newest addition to her team; the one she had transferred from her PC box earlier. She held the ball to her face, staring at it while she thought about her friend's faces. A flash of Augustine's happy face flashed in her mind as she fought back tears while saying, "We're going to go find out!" _

As Serena began to walk back towards the gateway into Lumiose City, Lysandre standing from the bench to follow Serena diligently so, she passed by Calem who stayed rooted to his seat for a minute longer. "Are you coming or what?" she asked over her shoulder to him.

He quickly shook his head before jumping up from his seat exclaiming, "Serena! I LOVE YOU!". A heavy silence fell around the group, Lysandre watching the two teenagers with baited breath while Serena stood rooted to the spot, bowing her head low; refusing to look back to Calem as she balled her hands into fists at her sides. When she didn't say a word back to him, he continued, "I've been in love with you ever since we met outside your house. I thought that I was the luckiest guy in the world to have such a beautiful next door neighbor. That is until we met the Professor. Watching the way you were around him, listening to you talk about him when you'd call me out of the blue, I knew you were in love with him instantly. And that I had competition for your heart."

At that moment Serena's fists balled together tightly before she launched herself at Calem, tackling him to the ground as she grabbed hold of his throat with her left hand. Her right fist connected with the ground next to his head as she used her legs to pin him down completely. "Don't you DARE get excited you worm!" she exclaimed as she felt his groin begin to harden inside his pants. His groin became flaccid at her words as he tried to gasp for air; feeling her left hand tighten on his windpipe in the process.

"R…Ri…Rina…I…c…can't…bre…breathe!" he managed to say as she continued to hold onto his throat; tears building up in her eyes all the while.

"I hate men like you! You use your girlfriends as toys just to cheat on them later with their best friends! You're just like my dad! He used my mother for eight years before he finally grew a pair and left her! And now here you are, wanting to do the same thing to Shauna! She loves you, you jerk!" she said as she raised her right fist up into the air ready to bring it down on his face.

Calem winced at her raised fist while Lysandre had enough of it as he walked over to the two of them. He came up behind Serena, kneeling down behind her as he caught her fist in his right hand just before it connected with Calem's face. "Stop this Serena! This is not who you are!" he said, pulling her fist back, pinning it to the small of her back with his left hand as he reached down to the hand she had used to wrap around Calem's throat in an effort to peel it away so the boy could breathe. She refused to let go, Lysandre managed to slip his fingers between her hand and Calem's throat as he said, "He doesn't deserve to die for such an idiotic reason!" While she fought back Lysandre's strong grip on her hand, he dipped his face to her ear and asked, "What do you think Augustine would say if he were here right now seeing you hurt your friend?"

At the mention of the Professor's name, Serena let go of Calem's throat, staring off ahead of herself before she looked over mournfully at Lysandre; tears falling freely finally. "Who are you to tell me what reason there is to die for?! You nearly destroyed the planet just for your own selfish, petty reasons!" she said, crying angrily at him as Calem attempted to take in a breath.

Lysandre grabbed Serena's shoulders roughly as he pulled her up onto her feet, holding her back against him as he said, "Yes you're right, but I attempted my plan without resorting to raw, irrational emotion. Now settle down and get a hold of yourself!" She struggled against his firm grip on her shoulders, flailing around pathetically as Lysandre looked to Calem, silently telling him to get up while he still could. Calem took Lysandre's silent urgings, standing up from his captor as she finally stopped flailing while her sobbing continued. Lysandre wrapped his arms around her comfortingly as he said, "We need his help to save Augustine and the others. Lets not forget that, oui?"

"I know that! But still, I want to know," she said first to Lysandre before turning her attention over to Calem pointedly. "I want to know, do you…do you even love Shauna?" she asked, attempting to finally calm herself down as she edged her arms away from Lysandre's grip to wipe away her tears.

"I didn't at first as I've been in love with you all this time," he said, trying to choose his next words carefully for fear of her irrational anger returning. "But lately I've been trying to fight back my feelings for you as I've been slowly falling in love with her. I felt that I needed to tell you my feelings before that part of me lost you to the Professor," he said as he suddenly felt his jealousy returning to him; his hands balling up into fists at his sides. "But thinking about you and the Professor together makes me feel so jealous. Every time you guys are together, I feel as though I need to step in and tell you that you are making a terrible mistake with him. For goodness sake he's an accomplished Pokemon Professor AND he's much older than you!"

Serena felt her anger return to her as she flashed Lysandre a look of 'stop me again, and you'll be next' as he rolled his eyes while sighing dejectedly as if saying 'I won't stop you, but I'm not covering up a murder for you either'. As she neared Calem, keeping her right hand flat and ready to slap him, he said, "But then I see you smiling happily with him and I think 'Why? Why do I feel this way? Am I still in love with her? She is beautiful, and it's kind of unfair that the Professor is going to take her innocence away from her, but still is this love? No, I can't be in love with Serena. I have Shauna now. And we're happy together. If I am still in love with Serena, and still feel this jealous, then I have to tell her how I feel. No matter what!'".

She stopped dead in her tracks, balling her flat hand up at her side as she asked, "But why would you tell me that you love me when you're more in love with Shauna?"

"Ahh sounds like you're not in love with Serena because of true love, but more so as an overly protective brother?" Lysandre said, putting a finger up to his chin thoughtfully as the two teens quickly turned their attention to him.

"What do you mean by that?" Calem asked perplexedly, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Lysandre in pure and utter confusion.

"Well you said that you thought she's beautiful, and she is there's no doubt about that," Lysandre said, walking over to the pair while looking Serena over suggestively. She threw him a quick glare before he turned back to Calem, continuing his explanation, "But by thinking AND feeling as though you need to intervene in her relationship with someone so respected and is ten years her senior, those aren't thoughts or feelings of 'True Love'. Those are thoughts and feelings of PROTECTION my dear boy! You want to PROTECT Serena from other men because you truly feel as though she is the sister you never had while growing up! Does this make sense to either of you?"

Serena continued to look at Lysandre with confusion etching itself on her face as Calem said, "I think I do. I mean, I don't have sour feelings when you're with him innocently, joking and laughing with him doesn't bother me. But when I see you two kissing or snuggling together…those sour feelings…they come back and all I feel like doing is either tell you to knock it off. Or knock him out flat on his pretty boy face!" He looked at Serena, his fists easing back to flat hands as he continued, "But I can't. I want to, but I just can't."

"And that is 'Protective Jealousy' not 'Love Jealousy'. If you had 'Love Jealousy' you would have not just told Serena how you felt, but you would have out rightly kissed her by now," Lysandre said, winking to Calem as both teens looked to each other first before looking back to the older man standing before them as a thoughtful look crossed between their faces.

Serena turned to Calem, happiness returning to her as she brushed her left hand against her tear soaked face as she held out her right hand to him. "Thank you then for loving me like a sister. I've always wanted to have a big brother looking out for me. But of course I didn't get to experience that growing up," she said, bowing her head sadly for just a moment before looking back up at him, a smile plastered itself on her face once more. "I'm glad that I met you after all Calem. I'm sorry for grouping you in with my dad. He truly is the worst man on the planet for what he did to my mom, so I'm sorry for that," she said, as he took her hand in his for the first time.

'_Huh…I always thought that if I were to touch her in anyway, accidental or on purpose, that my heart would race and my hands would get all clammy. But none of that is happening right now. Maybe what Lysandre said is true. I only love Serena as if she's my long lost sister, not my girlfriend,' _he thought as they broke their handshake while smiling happily to each other.

"Now that we're all friends again, lets go save Augustine and the others from Xerosic, oui?" Lysandre said as he headed off ahead of the teens toward the gateway.

"Yeah, yeah we're coming," Serena said in an annoyed tone to him before grabbing Calem's hand in hers once again while pulling him along. "Let's go get Shauna back," she said resolutely as he acknowledged her resolution with a quick nod while walking in pace with her; the two of them catching up with Lysandre back inside Lumiose City.

"Wait! Do we even know where he's hiding? And do we even have a plan?" Calem asked as a sudden realization hit him as they walked down North Boulevard heading towards Autumnal Avenue.

"Your friends haven't ever been down in my old Laboratory have they?" Lysandre asked in a whisper to Serena as he looked to her thoughtfully.

"No, never. Not even when we were trying to stop you. Out of my group of friends, I've been the only one to go in there," she said, as she stopped walking just outside of Autumnal Avenue to turn her attention to Calem. "Lysandre and I know exactly where Xerosic is hiding," she said matter-of-factly as Calem stared at her with a confused look on his face.

"And where is that?" he asked trying to think of where exactly in Lumiose City there could be an old Team Flare hideout.

"Just below my old Café, 'Lysandre Café'," Lysandre said as a thought occurred to him suddenly; making him turn his attention to Serena. "Did the city ever shut down my old Café?"

"No, Augustine and I wanted to keep it open. We just sealed the door to the lab, especially after the last time I was in there facing off against Xerosic," she said as he looked to her with a mixture of surprise and happiness playing on his face. Serena noticed the smile forming on his face as she continued, "I only agreed to keep it open because I wanted Augustine to be happy. It…it wasn't for you." She blushed awkwardly to him as he smiled to her suggestively.

"Oh ok, so then if they're down there then what do we do when we get there?" Calem asked, trying to bring the two people standing before him, stuck in a moment to themselves, back to reality.

"When we get in there, I want you to find Augustine and the others and quietly free them from what ever it is that Xerosic has them trapped in. Lysandre and I will keep Xerosic busy so you can get everyone out of the lab safely," Serena said, snapping herself mentally back to where she stood, returning her attention to Calem.

"So we go into this Café, then what? You just said that you and the Professor sealed the door off," Calem said thoughtfully.

"Well they've most likely disabled the seal on the door, so we have that to our advantage," Serena said, while also thinking of what to do next. "OH! Does your Meowstic know 'Teleport'?" she asked suddenly as a thought hit her.

"Yeah! Ok I get it!" Calem said, as he reached inside his bag and pulled out his Meowstic's Pokeball; throwing it up into the air. "COME ON OUT MEOWSTIC!" he called out as the Pokeball soared into the air, opening up at the highest point it could go to as he Meowstic burst out happily. "MEOW!" it said happily as it landed on it's tip toes on the ground before them. "Meowstic, I need you to teleport us to the inside of 'Lysandre Café'. Think you can handle that?" Calem asked happily while also commandingly to his Pokemon. "Meow!" it said as it's eyes began to glow blue while they all prepared themselves for the move to work.

"Wait! Does your Pokemon even know where my Café is?" Lysandre asked, but as he anticipated a response from Calem, Meowstic let out a loud cry as the move activated itself; casting a bright blue glow around the group suddenly before quickly disappearing.

"MEEEOW!" exclaimed the Meowstic as it and the group of humans rematerialized right in the middle of Lysandre's Café right above a grouping of tables and chairs. The group of people and the one Pokemon hovered over the tables and chairs for a moment before crashing down on top of them loudly.

"OW! DAMN IT!" Serena exclaimed as she rubbed her butt with her right hand while her left hand rubbed the top of her head.

"That wasn't the landing I was hoping for!" Calem exclaimed as he too rubbed away the same pains from his body.

"Will you two shut up! We're in enemy territory and you're yelling like you're at a rave!" Lysandre exclaimed just as loudly as the two teens sitting in front of him.

"Oh and you're the one to talk about shutting up! You're just as loud as us! Plus if anyone can hear us yelling at each other, they probably heard our landing too!" Serena exclaimed angrily to the red haired man as they all heard a male voice off in the distance yelling out to the darkness.

"HEY! WHO'S THERE?!" said the voice as he neared the scene before him; coming from the direction of the secret lab door.

Calem jumped to his feet, standing next to his Pokemon as the keeper of the mysterious male voice appeared before them all; the sliding display case moving aside to reveal the open door. "HEY! YOU THERE! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!" the man dressed in a black, form fitted body suit exclaimed suddenly. "I NEED BACK UP UP HERE!" he yelled out to the open door way as two more men in form fitted body suits joined him.

"QUICKLY CALEM! GET MEOWSTIC TO USE HYPNOSIS ON THEM BEFORE THEY PUT ON THEIR VISORS!" Serena exclaimed as she knew exactly the suit they were wearing; it was the same one Xerosic had put on Emma when he used her to steal other people's Pokemon.

"YOU HEARD HER MEOWSTIC! HYPNOSIS NOW!" Calem exclaimed to his Pokemon as the three men in the suits stood watching the Pokemon in confusion before slowly falling to the ground as the spell of Hypnosis took over their minds; lulling them to sleep.

Serena breathed out a sigh of relief as the three sleeping men began to snore very loudly in unison. Lysandre stood up from his seat, rubbing his head one last time before walking over to the group of sleeping men, kneeling down over their forms while taking in their faces. "If I remember correctly, this one was dating Bryony. While these two were stalking her. I never thought they'd be working together as this first one had tried to kill the other two," he said, as he began to fish around in their pockets looking for something.

"What are you looking for exactly?" Calem asked as he held out his right hand to Serena to help her up onto her feet. She took his hand firmly as she stood up and faced Lysandre as a thought dawned on her. "You're looking to see if they have a pass card for the elevator aren't you?" she asked as he looked back to her for a moment, flashing a quick smile before he found what he was looking for.

He stood from the passed out men on the floor as he held up thin black card with a single red stripe running along the length of it. "This is our ticket to finding Augustine and your friends," he said, smiling proudly to the teens before the three of them set off down into the laboratory.

Meanwhile, down in the second basement floor, in the room that once held the Pokemon Trainer AZ captive, now holds the Professor, Diantha and Serena's friends. Their wrists and feet are shackled together by means of an electrical device, which they discovered that if they move even the slightest, an electrical current is released into their bodies to subdue them. Their Pokemon were taken from them and placed in a holding tank nearby. Everyone but Shauna sat with their arms held above their heads looking down at the ground sadly. The male members of the group had been beaten badly while the women were untouched.

Tierno seemed to bear the brunt of it all as he had tried to protect Trevor when they were originally captured; leaving him with a broken arm and a few broken ribs. Trevor merely sustained minor bruising while the Professor suffered a mild concussion due to the first blow to the head. He also sported a black eye from waking up not too long after the first knock out; he tried to fight his way out but was knocked back down for a while. He woke up to the sound of Shauna's laboured crying and moaning for Serena to save them.

"S…Ser…Serena…" he managed to say as he woke up for a second time that day after being knocked out so much he thought for a moment that he had nearly been put into a coma.

"Ahhh so you're finally awake Professor!" came a maniacal voice from inside the dark room.

The Professor vaguely recognized the voice as the same one he heard back inside the penthouse suite before he suffered his first concussion. "Who's there?! What do you want with all of us?!" he exclaimed out into the darkness, squinting around to find the source of where the voice was coming from. His eyes became slightly blinded for only a moment as a set of high powered lights flashed on, illuminating the room to show the group of captured people and a large square machine sitting in the middle of the room.

On the top of the square machine stood a large man with a small amount of strange red hair. He wore a pair of red goggles over his eyes, while sporting a red and white suit; which seemed to have shrunk over the years. He stood facing the Professor, flanked by four slim figured women all wearing form fitted body suits while also wearing large helmets on their heads; the visors completely covering their faces. "Ahh yes I'm sorry I'm terrible with introducing myself. My name is Xerosic!" he said, bowing a bit but not too much as he didn't want to endure the self-consciousness of the shrinking outfit as it was barely containing him any more. He stood up straight, gesturing to the women around him as he continued, "And these were once my fellow scientists back when we were all apart of the glorious Team Flare. That is, until your harlot of a girlfriend stopped our great leader from achieving his goals!"

"Xerosic? Wait! Didn't Serena stop you from stealing Pokemon from innocent people a year and a half ago?!" exclaimed Tierno as he winced at the pain in his arm from quickly trying to stand up.

"Yes, the very same! But now I've escaped prison to create MY own Ultimate Weapon against both humans and Pokemon!" he exclaimed as he pulled out a small square remote control and pressed a button upon it.

Just then the roof above them opened up, revealing a series of heavy electrical wires and mechanisms lowering themselves down around Xerosic. Dropping the remote to the ground, Xerosic held his arms out to the mechanisms as they clamped onto him. "MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" he exclaimed, laughing maniacally as a large white helmet lowered down onto his head. "WITH THIS SUIT I CAN CONTROL EVERY PERSON AND POKEMON! GONE ARE THE DAYS OF FREE WILL! I WILL USE THIS SUIT TO ENSLAVE EVERYONE ALIVE! MAKE THEM WORSHIP ME! AND WHEN I GET BORED, I WILL DO THE ONE THING THE LATE LYSANDRE COULDN'T DO! I WILL KILL ANYONE WHO DEFIES ME! AND THE BEST PART OF ALL THIS?! I DON'T NEED THE LEGENDARY POKEMON YVELTAL TO GIVE ME IT'S POWER! THIS IS ALL MY OWN POWER!" he exclaimed as a sudden loud clapping sound echoed through out the room.

"Well that's a VERY evil plan! Very well thought out and very much a menacing one if I do say so myself!" Lysandre said as he continued to clap sarcastically while walking into the room.

"Lysandre?! Is that you?! No! That can't be! How are you alive?!" Xerosic exclaimed, looking incredulously at him as everyone else looked to Lysandre in shock.

"I'll answer your question in a minute Xerosic. But first you must answer my question. Why did you abduct these fine Kalosian citizens?" Lysandre asked, as he stopped his sarcastic clapping and placed his hands in his pockets; raising an inquisitive eyebrow to Xerosic while waiting for his response.

"I captured them to use their life energies to fuel my suit! Just look at their shackles!" Xerosic exclaimed, gesturing to the Professor and the others' constraints as Lysandre noticed how there were thick electric cables holding them all together. "If they move, they get shocked! And when they get shocked, THEIR LIFE ENERGY IS MINE!" Xerosic exclaimed before laughing maniacally. "It's the same process you used against the Legendary Pokemon Yveltal! But this time, I'M USING IT ON HER PRECIOUS HUMANS INSTEAD!" he said in between laughs as Lysandre looked to him confusedly.

"'Her'? Who are you talking about?" he asked as Xerosic cut his laughing short while stomping his left foot on the ground angrily.

"NO MORE QUESTIONS FROM YOU! YOU HAVE TO ANSWER MY QUESTION NOW!" he yelled out angrily; almost as though he were a child once more. "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?! YOU WERE DEAD BACK IN GEOSENGE TOWN! I MOURNED YOU! SO WHY?! WHY ARE YOU HERE NOW?!" he exclaimed, still holding his childish sounding voice in his throat.

"I was saved," Lysandre replied simply without showing any emotion suddenly.

"BWAHAHAHA! YOU WERE SAVED?! BY WHO?!" Xerosic exclaimed, laughing crazily for a moment but stopped short as he heard the sound of small foot steps joining them.

"I did!" Serena said as she walked into the room, standing firmly next to Lysandre as the Professor and her friends stared at her in shock and awe.

"YOU?! WHY WOULD YOU SAVE HIM?! HE WANTED TO KILL YOU TWO YEARS AGO!" Xerosic exclaimed incredulously.

"I've been hearing that a lot today," she said, shaking her head dismissively. "I saved him…out of pity!"

"Hey! What do you mean by that?!" Lysandre yelled out at her indignantly. But when he noticed the unchanged expression on her face he silently watched her as she continued her speech.

"I saved Lysandre out of pity, but not because I felt the need to save him. I saved him because I wanted to!" she said, her eyes focused squarely on Xerosic and no one else. "On the day I saved him, a man in your captivity told me that he felt terrible for not being able to talk his best friend out of making the worse choice of his life. I felt bad for him, so much so that all I wanted to do that day was to go back to Geosenge Town and reflect on that man's feelings as well as my own. Every encounter I had with Lysandre, I couldn't shake the feeling of empathy for the man. I believed exactly what Augustine believed in him. That he was truly a good person, he just made the wrong choices during the course of his life. While I thought on that, that's when I saw Lysandre attempting to crawl out of his self-made 'grave'. I pitied him…and didn't think twice about what I had to do next," she said as she took a quick glance over to the Professor, smiling softly to him as he continued to watch her give her speech in awe.

"I saved Lysandre for you Augustine. He's your best friend, and when you lost him, you felt the worse you had ever been, didn't you?" she asked him, empathy lacing around her face before taking root in her eyes as she looked to her lover.

"Yes…I did…" he managed to say sadly as he finally looked down at the ground before returning his gaze up to her. _'She did that for me? Then why didn't she say anything to me? All this time Lysandre has been alive and it was because of her? I don't know if I should be angry with her for keeping this from me. Or if I should be happy for her doing such a wonderful gesture for me." _he thought, cursing the cuffs around his wrists as he wanted to scratch at the back of his head suddenly.

'_He missed me? Did I miss him too? I guess I should have gone to see him when it was an appropriate time to,'_ Lysandre thought as he looked from his friend back to his friend's new lover. He smiled a thoughtful look to her as he thought, _'She's a really good girl. She's smart, sweet, funny, strong…Augustine knows how to pick them. I'm glad he's finally found someone like her.' _He flashed a quick thoughtful look over to Diantha just as she looked away from him suddenly; her face as red as a Haban Berry. _'Was she just checking me out? Huh…hmm I missed you too Diantha, ma belle Reine,'_ he thought as he smiled warmly to her before finally returning his attention to the task at hand.

"AWWW HOW TOUCHING! SO WHAT NOW SERENA?! OH GREAT SAVIOR OF KALOS! CHAMPION OF THE POKEMON LEAGUE!" Xerosic exclaimed, bringing everyone back to the present predicament.

"I'm not the Champion any more," Serena said, still holding her emotions at an unfazed level, while returning eye contact with Xerosic.

"OH?! THEN WHO IS?!" Xerosic asked, excitement in his voice after hearing that Serena had been knocked down from her 'perfect' pedestal.

"I AM!" exclaimed Calem loudly as he and his Meowstic found a large heavy electrical cable leading from the console Xerosic stood on, up to the first set of shackles binding Tierno. "MEOWSTIC! USE PSYCHIC ON THIS CABLE!" he exclaimed as Meowstic listened to its trainer and in a quick flurry of blue light managed to pull the cable out from the console.

"DAMN IT BOY! WHAT HAPPENED TO STICKING WITH THE PLAN?!" Lysandre exclaimed angrily to the youth.

"I AM FOLLOWING THE PLAN OLD MAN! I'M FREEING THE PRISONERS THE ONLY WAY I CAN WITHOUT GETTING ELECTROCUTED!" Calem exclaimed as he and his Meowstic jumped back from the live wire of electricity; narrowly dodging it all the while.

"DAMN IT! ALIANA! CELOSIA! BRYONY! MABLE! GET THEM!" Xerosic exclaimed as a white hot rage took over his childish demeanour. The four former Team Flare scientists, dressed in their new form fitted black suits, launched themselves at Calem and Lysandre with lightning speed; while also releasing their Pokemon to help them fight. "MIGHTYENA! MANECTRIC! LIEPARD! HOUNDOOM! ELIMINATE THEM!" the four women exclaimed as each other their Pokemon flew out of their Poke Balls and landed on their feet on the cold floor.

Each of the Pokemon launched themselves at the two men as Lysandre reached inside his pants pocket and threw out his Poke Ball. "Let's go Flareon! Use Fire Spin to keep them away from the boy and I!" he said, as his Flareon burst out of its Poke Ball. It cried out "FLARE!" as a whirlwind of flames flew out from its body, encircling the area around Calem as Calem threw a scathing glare at Lysandre.

"I'M NOT A 'BOY'! I'M A MAN DAMN IT!" Calem exclaimed angrily.

"AND I'M NOT AN 'OLD MAN'!" Lysandre exclaimed back just as angrily as Calem.

"WILL YOU TWO FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND!" Serena exclaimed to the two men as she prepared herself for her fight against Xerosic.

"I see its down to you and I Serena! I just wonder if you brought your trump card, the Legendary Pokemon that is," he said as he hopped off his machine while also pressing a button on the side of his helmet to flip on the visor.

"I'm not THAT stupid to bring Yveltal to this place! No, instead you'll get the pleasure of meeting the one Pokemon that had the Terminus Cave closed off until recently. It was a hard catch, but here it is! COME ON OUT ZYGARDE!" she exclaimed, pulling out the new Poke Ball she had transferred earlier from inside her purse; throwing it up in the air all the while. "ZYYYYGARRRDEEE!" exclaimed her Pokemon as it landed on the ground behind her; letting its tail wrap around her to rest on the ground at her feet.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!" Xerosic exclaimed, pointing to Zygarde panicking and fearful of the huge Dragon-type Pokemon.

Trevor shakily pulled out his Pokedex to check the specs on the strange new Pokemon before him. "Zygarde, the Order Pokemon. It's hypothesized that it's monitoring those who destroy the ecosystem from deep in the cave where it lives," said the Pokedex recording as everyone, including the four former Team Flare scientists, watched Serena and Zygarde in awe.

"Like I said, it was the reason why the Terminus Cave was closed off until just a few months ago. I did however try to catch him after I became the Kalos League Champion, but lost terribly. After that I decided to let him continue to roam free until I couldn't handle the fact that I lost to him. So I went back to the cave, fought hard against him and finally managed to catch him. Now him and I have a strong bond so powerful that we'll use right now to finish you off ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Serena said, as she brought her right fist up to her chest in righteous fury and resolve.

"BWAHAHAHA! AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT?! MY SUIT IS UNSTOPPABLE!" Xerosic exclaimed as he raised his right arm up, revealing it to be a hand cannon, while his left hand clamped onto it, pressing a button to shoot off a powerful beam of light.

"SERENA! LOOK OUT!" exclaimed the Professor, a tear falling from his face while Diantha and Shauna held him back; tears falling from their faces as they watched their friend in fear.

A silence fell in the cavernous room after the beam of light hit it's target square on; causing a dust cloud to engulf the area suddenly. "Sere…na…mon…amour…ma…cherie…you…can't…be dead…YOU CAN'T BE DEAD DAMN IT!" the Professor exclaimed fearfully as more tears escaped their prisons as he felt the sudden need to cry uncontrollably. The two girls let him go as they too felt the need to cry, causing him to sit on his knees on the cold floor. He held his arms close to his body as thoughts of holding her in that way flooded his mind, forcing him to cry even louder than anyone else in the room. "Serena! Mon amour! Please don't be dead!" he pleaded desperately to the cavernous room before continuing to rant incoherently. "I wanted to make you mine! I wanted to marry you! Have children with you! I wanted to create a wonderful family with you while also living the rest of my life with you! Waking up with you next to me every morning…your beautiful face always smiling in that beautiful, cheerful way…you're my last chance at a happy and full life! THAT'S WHY YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! You…just can't be…".

"I'm not dead Augustine," came Serena's voice causing him to choke back his tears and look back to the spot where she was just a moment ago. As the dust cloud settled, everyone noticed a giant black and green tail hung in the air right in front of Serena's face to shield her from the blow. His eyes widened as he felt a sudden rush of happiness fill his heart as he noticed her quick side glance to him before refocusing on Xerosic determinedly.

"NO! THAT CAN'T BE! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! DAMN YOUR FREAKSHOW OF A POKEMON!" Xerosic exclaimed angrily, staring at her fearfully as Zygarde letting it's tail rest back on the ground at her feet.

"Now it's my turn. Zygarde lets finish this pathetic excuse for a person with one last attack," she said, keeping her eyes on Xerosic while also talking directly to her Pokemon.

"I'M NOT PATHETIC! I AM A GOD!" he exclaimed angrily as he pressed another button on his cannon; preparing for another attack.

"You captured my friends, my ONLY family and my lover, and while you are standing their wearing such a pathetic device, you believe makes you a God, you choose to continue with this madness. If you had given in at all, I would spare you completely. But oh well, to each their own I guess," she said resolutely as she held her hand out in front of her, pointing squarely at Xerosic. "ZYGARDE! USE GIGA IMPACT! BLOW HIS SUIT TO PIECES NOW!" she exclaimed commandingly as the Pokemon charged it's attack quickly before firing it off to it's target.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!" he exclaimed as the powerful attack flew at him, hitting him squarely in the chest while blowing his suit to pieces; the aftershock of the attack destroying the console behind him.

As the ceiling and walls began to buckle around everyone, chunks of the ceiling falling down in the process, Serena returned Zygarde to it's Poke Ball. She quickly placed the Poke Ball back inside her purse, as she grabbed another one and threw it into the air. "MEWTWO! USE TELEPORT ON EVERYONE IN THE ROOM! TAKE US BACK TO MAGENTA PLAZA NOW!" she exclaimed as the new Pokemon in the room obliged its master as everyone's vision blurred suddenly before they regained their composure back outside the 'Lysandre Café' in Magenta Square. As a fire began to burn around the inside of the café, she remembered the three sleeping men trapped inside the burning building. "MEWTWO! THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE INSIDE THE CAFÉ! QUICKLY TELEPORT THEM OUT HERE NOW!" she exclaimed as the Pokemon listened to it's master one last time that night, using all of his psychic power to teleport the three men out into the cool night air.

"MY MACHINE! MY HOPES AND DREAMS DESTROYED AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU BITCH!" Xerosic exclaimed as he turned from the burning building and launched himself at Serena.

Serena stood her ground, prepared to fight off the nearly, fully, naked man as a loud voice echoed around the scene in the plaza. "THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU XEROSIC!" said the voice as a new group of people rushed onto the scene. "MIMI! USE PSYCHIC ON XEROSIC! FORCE HIS HANDS BEHIND HIS BACK!" said the female voice as her Pokemon's eyes glowed a faint blue colour suddenly.

Xerosic felt his body seize up, his arms involuntarily pulling backward while he attempted to fight back against the power of Mimi's psychic attack. "NO! DAMN IT! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO PRISON! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME BACK THERE!" he exclaimed as he continued to fight the powerful psychic move but felt his body failing him as his hands firmly grasped each other at the small of his back. He then felt a pair of cold, steel cuffs clamp down on his wrists as he cried out, "NOOOOOOOO!"

"You should have thought of that before you chose to return to your life of crime! Now you'll go back to prison like a good boy!" said Looker as he tightened the cuffs around Xerosic's wrists before heaving him up onto his feet. "Emma! Cuff up his followers too!" he said commandingly while shoving Xerosic inside the back of parked International Police van.

As Emma followed Looker's orders, the four former Team Flare scientists tore off their helmets as they regained their consciousness'. One by one they offered up their hands to the girl before them while also looking sadly at the ground. "Even though we did those things because he was controlling us, we know when to stop fighting the inevitable," said Celosia, while the other women nodded their heads thoughtfully.

"Oh…ok then…you have the right to remain silent from this point on!" Emma said as she clamped cuffs on each of the women in turn before shoving them off to join Xerosic and the three men, whom were still sleeping thanks to Calem's Meowstic's powerful hypnosis attack, in the van.

"Damien! Why?! Why?! WHY?!" came the cries of Serena's mother as she recognized one of the men to be her current boyfriend. Serena looked shockingly at her mother then back to the men in the van while her mother sank down to the ground sadly. Serena walked over to her mother's side, bent down to place a comforting hand on her shoulder when her mother launched herself at her daughter suddenly; nearly knocking Serena to the ground. "Serena! He left me! Another man left me and its all my fault!" she sobbed out, pressing herself against her daughter's chest.

"It's not your fault mom. It wasn't EVER your fault. Dad chose that woman over you due to his own greedy nature. That man over there, chose to manipulate you because he's a worthless coward. The men who hurt you are nothing more than worthless pieces of scum. And you shouldn't beat yourself up for them," Serena said holding her mother close to her body while staring at the van as Emma and Looker locked it up firmly before patting the back of it to send it off on its way. Her mother peeled herself from Serena's chest to look up at her daughter, tears soaking her face as she asked, "Then what should I do? Should I keep on getting burned by men for the rest of my life? Or should I just give up now while I still have the chance?" she asked sadly.

"NON! Don't give up on love! I don't even want to HEAR you suggest that ever again mom! Everyone deserves happiness! Everyone deserves second chances! Well everyone does, except for those who burned you over the years. They deserve what ever punishment they receive," Serena said, chastising her mother for a moment before playfully punching her shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?!" her mother cried out childishly, practically pouting at her daughter as Serena burst out laughing.

Everyone around them watched thoughtfully before Looker eyed Lysandre; thinking hard about where he's seen him before. Serena stopped laughing at her mother, standing up from the ground while helping her mother up, as she noticed Looker's hardboiled stare at Lysandre. "I know what you're thinking Looker," she said, bringing everyone's attention to her while also bringing them to look at the detective suddenly. Before Looker could say anything back to Serena, she said, "I want you to give him full amnesty from all forms of law enforcement for the rest of his life."

"Ahh so he is who I thought he is. And why should I do what you say? He is a criminal who must pay for his crimes against human society! Same said crimes you thwarted two years ago!" Looker said, crossing his arms across his chest as he eyed her suspiciously.

She walked over to stand between both men, keeping her back to Lysandre while throwing both arms out in a protective way. "You will do as I say as he is my friend! If you convict him of his past misdeeds, then you will have no other choice to convict me too!" she said as everyone watched her challenge the detective. Lysandre stared at the girl before him shockingly before smiling warmly at her while thinking, _'She's willing to protect me from anything, including the law itself. No wonder why Augustine chose to love her.' _

"And why should I convict you? Were you aiding this man all this time?" Looker asked, a mixture of anger and admiration in his voice.

"Yes I have been! And I will always help him! He may have been my enemy when everyone else told me to hate him. But I know for a fact that he is no longer a threat to anyone! And if you need any more proof of that, I can call up the townsperson he was living with all this time!" she exclaimed as Looker held up his hands defensively. "I think I'll take your word for it this time. I'll leave everything up to you and Emma still," he said as he quickly shook her hand and walked off toward where his old set up was while Emma and Mimi followed after him; waving back to Serena as they went.

"Merci Serena. I am indebted to you again aren't I?" Lysandre asked as she turned to smile at him warmly. "Augustine! You have one hell of a girlfriend, you old dog!" he said over Serena's shoulder towards the battle battered Professor.

Serena tore herself away from Lysandre as she looked over to her lover, smiling happily while running over to his side. "Augustine! I'm so glad you're ok!" she said, flinging her arms behind his neck, hugging him tightly causing him to wince in pain. "They hurt you! Where are you hurt?" she asked urgently as she looked him over worriedly.

'_Here it is. Time to decide whether or not I should be happy for her for saving my best friend. Or if I should be angry with her for not tell me all this time that my best friend was still alive. What should I do?' _he thought as he looked into her eyes while making up his mind. "I'll be fine. Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix!" he said, as he tried to plaster a weak smile to his face. She looked at him searchingly, praying silently that he wasn't mad with her about Lysandre. But when his face stayed unchanged, still smiling weakly to her, her heart fell as she knew instantly how he felt about her.

"Oh ok. Well I guess you don't need my help then," she said, pushing aside any logical thought out of her mind about how to handle herself as she let her hurt feelings show. As she turned to walk away from him she felt his hand clamp down on her right arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"Serena, I'm not upset with you. I'm glad that you saved us," he said as she pulled her arm away from him as she brought that same hand up to her chest; bowing her head low to avoid his gaze.

"You're welcome, Professor. I'm just glad you're not badly hurt like Tierno is," she said, gesturing to her large friend while keeping her gaze away from his.

At the mention of his title coming out of her mouth, he felt his heart sink lower than it did when he thought she was dead. _'Why didn't she say my name like she usually does? Did I make the right choice just now? Ugh! What do I do now?!' _he thought as he attempted to recompose himself before anyone noticed their micro fight.

"We're going to take him to the Pokemon Center nearby. They take people too right?" Shauna asked as everyone looked around thoughtfully.

"Yeah they should. Especially with wounds like those," the Professor said, without taking his eyes off of Serena. "The rest of you guys should get some rest after that. It's been a long day," he said, as he decided to look away from his lover for a moment to look at everyone else. Serena looked over to him at that moment thinking, _'He's mad at me for keeping Lysandre a secret all this time. I knew this would happen whether I told him or not. What do I do now?'_. She began to walk away from him, turning her back to him and the others as she headed out towards North Boulevard to return to the hotel.

"Tierno!" she said over her shoulder before she set a foot back on the boulevard before her. "I hope you get better, ok?" she said as she turned around to face everyone, while tears fell from her eyes before she could stop them.

"Y…yeah…I'll try…catch…you…later?" he asked, smiling weakly as she plastered a smile to her face while she said, "Yeah, for sure! I'll see you tomorrow morning!"

As she turned her back to her friends once more, she heard Lysandre say to the Professor, "You're mad at her aren't you? Damn it Augustine! Go to her and apologize! What happened to what you said when you thought she had died back there?!"

When the Professor said nothing back to his friend, who was quieted down by Diantha's hand, the Professor took a few steps forward before calling out to his lover. "Come to my lab tomorrow Serena! I want to look over your Pokedex and talk with you privately, ok?" he said as she stopped walking for a brief moment to hear him out. "Yeah sure thing Professor! See you then!" she said without looking back to him, waving a hand out to him from over her shoulder before continuing on toward the hotel; desperately wanting to just sleep the night away.


	10. Chapter 10

The Champion and The Professor

Chapter Ten

Serena's walk back to the hotel felt as exhausting as ever especially with the events of the day playing in her mind; over and over again. After she left her friends, mother and the Professor behind to tend to their wounds, she walked as slow as though she were heading off to a funeral. She kept her head bowed low as she set foot inside the main lobby of the pristine hotel. Her body was completely filthy compared to the immaculately clean room she was walking through. The occupants of the lobby looked to her as if she were a dirty Meowth coming in from hunting the alley ways for scraps during the course of the day.

Serena chose to ignore them as she waited for the elevator, her mind still reeling from what she witnessed that day. Thankfully the elevator wait wasn't very long as the doors flew open to reveal it's snooty passengers as they looked to her and scoffed loudly. "I didn't know they let this riff raff stay here!" said one of the people disembarking from the elevator. Serena pushed passed the snooty person, making sure to rub her dirty shoulder up against his arm, causing him to squeal suddenly. "That dirty brat touched me!" he exclaimed as Serena stood facing the lobby's occupants, managing to smile sweetly to them all as she noticed one woman mouth the words _"That's the Champion of Kalos!"_. The snooty man stared at Serena in awe as everyone else in the lobby watched too, as Serena pressed the button for the fifth floor; causing the doors to close in front of her.

"Am I really THAT dirty?" she said to herself as she turned around to face the full length mirror that is the back wall of the elevator's cab. She leaned forward to look at herself better in the mirror, pulling at her face as she inspected it closer. "Ew! I need to have a bath! I hope Diantha doesn't mind if I stay in her room for one more night either," she said as she let go of her face while the elevator cab came to its stop on the fifth floor. She turned around in time for the elevator doors to open up, revealing yet another clean floor. She walked down the hallway, off towards the penthouse suite as a sudden thought hit her.

'_When I walk in there, I'm going to find Augustine's stuff strewn about the room from when he was taken,' _she thought as she felt a tear cascade down her face at remembering her lover; imagining the scene of when he was originally captured. _'Don't think about that Serena! You saved him from Xerosic! He's back at his lab, most likely getting ready for bed by now. Or even getting settled into his research! Yeah that's what he's probably doing right now!' _she thought, trying to reassure herself as she stepped into the penthouse suite; closing and locking the door behind her while heading off to the bathroom.

About a half hour after her bath, she stepped out from the bathroom, drying herself off with the last clean towel in the room as she let out a sigh of relief from being clean again. "Ahh! That feels much better!" she said happily as she walked around the room naked as the day she was born, heading off to the bedroom to get dressed into her pyjamas. She put her panties and pants on first, before slinging her shirt on over her head. As she adjusted herself in her warm pyjama shirt she noticed the papers and notebooks strewn about on the nearby table from when the Professor watched over her when she was sick.

She felt a pang of pain in her heart as she remembered how her last encounter with her lover ended; sour and mildly angry. "He's mad at me I know he is. Should I be mad at myself too? Should I even go see him tomorrow? Well I guess I have to since his research materials are all here. There's no way around this, I just hope we can get through it. I really don't want our relationship to end just because I screwed up once," she said as she began to clean up his notebooks and papers; piling them neatly in a stack on the table. She picked up the stack, ready to carry it out to the seating room outside the bedroom when one of the notebooks fell to the floor; opening up on a random page. "Damn it!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she placed the stack back on top of the table so she could retrieve the opened book from off of the floor.

As she bent down onto her knees, reaching out to grab the notebook, her eyes trailed a bit on the page sitting open before her. Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed the date on the page as it read, 'Monday September 29th 2012'. _'The date on it is from two years ago, back when I was traveling around Kalos. This looks like a journal! Hmmm should I read this? No! I shouldn't!' _she thought, deciding to not invade the Professor's privacy. But in the end she couldn't help herself, especially after seeing her name at the end of the page. _'He wrote about me? Maybe I should read this after all?' _she thought as she sat on the floor, crossing her legs while bringing the journal up to be level with her face as she read it's contents.

"_Monday, September 29__th__ 2012,_

_I dreamn't of her again last night. This time it was mostly due to her latest visit to the lab. Oh God, she looked so beautiful. I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm in love with her. But I can't be! I shouldn't be in love with her! She's one of my students for goodness sake! I should act as her mentor not some lovesick puppy whenever she's around, but I can't help it! Everything about her is amazing! Her voice sounds like a thousand heavenly angels singing angelically every time she speaks to me. The way she walks around my lab when she visits me, oh her hips sway so amazingly. Almost as though they were beckoning me to make her mine! NON! I shouldn't feel this way! She's my student damn it! _

_Maybe I should tell her how I feel about her? That way if she refuses me, I can stop picturing myself bending her over my desk. _

_Am I that pathetic? Oh Serena, you've bewitched me with your smile, your emerald eyes, your beautiful flame hair and that perfect body of yours._

_I hope she visits again tomorrow!"_

Serena felt her face flare up as she read the journal entry, feeling very self-conscious of herself suddenly. "He thinks I'm beautiful? Even back then he wanted to make me his! Wow…I can't believe he wanted to have his way with me like that!" she said as she felt a sudden urge to flip through the book to read more entries. "I shouldn't read any more of this! This is his personal journal! I need to respect his personal space which includes this journal!" she said angrily to herself as she involuntarily flipped through it, stopping on a page that seemed to jump out at her as she noticed the date on it.

"_Wednesday, November 10__th__ 2012,_

_I kissed her tonight! I can't believe it! All I wanted to do was tell her about the Mega Stones and their relation to the Anistar City Sundial. But damn it, she had to tell me that she's in love with me! _

_I didn't know what to do! I felt panicked and scared! I didn't know if I should have told her how I felt about her too. I wanted to stay true to being her mentor but watching her cry was so heart breaking. I had to do something! _

_So I kissed her! Which must have been her first kiss, as her mouth felt like it was lost. But she tasted so good, like a sweet pecha berry with whipped cream. _

_I don't know if I should be thankful for my self-control. Or if I should be annoyed with it. I guess I should be thankful, she is after all only sixteen years old still. But I still want her! I want to make her mine so no one else may have her. I think she feels the same way, her eyes looked so upset with me when we stopped kissing. I thought she was going to cry again but she didn't. _

_I hope we can try and be friendly with each other after tonight. Perhaps I should invite her to accompany me to a café so we can talk this through? Yeah I should, or maybe I shouldn't. If I see her, I don't know if I could hold myself back from her anymore. Especially after that kiss! _

_Oh Serena! I will make you mine one day! But for now, I hope we can be friends."_

Serena's mind reeled after reading that entry as she thought back to that very same night; the night she confessed to him. "I really did want him to keep on kissing me that night, but I guess it was a good thing he stopped. It seems as though he didn't want to do something he'd regret later on. Which is a good thing I guess, I probably would feel the same way if I were him," she said thoughtfully as she contemplated on reading more of his journal. "Just one more entry I think," she said as she flipped through the journal for a final time before settling on the latest entry.

"_Thursday, January 9__th__ 2014,_

_My dearest, sweet Serena isn't feeling well today. It seems as though she has a head cold. Thankfully she's resting now. While I sit here writing this, I can't help but wonder if I am doing the right thing with being with her. I know most of her friends approve of our relationship, well most of them except for Calem. I think he might be trying to push us apart due to his own feelings of love for Serena. I just hope that if he tries to confess to her, she will tell him whom her heart truly beats for._

_I just wish that Lysandre was still here so I can ask him for advice. I know I can ask Diantha for help but it wouldn't be the same asking her for a guy's perspective when all she'll give me is a woman's perspective. At least with Lysandre's advice I'll know how to act around Serena without looking like a bumbling teenager. _

…_I miss my friend…for the past two years, I know I wasn't there but hearing about what happened from Serena and her friends…I just wish I HAD been there so I could have told him to stop…"_

At that point Serena had to stop reading that particular entry as she snapped the journal closed. She hugged it close to her chest as she began to cry, feeling her heart breaking at realizing how wrong she had been. "I should have told him I saved Lysandre two years ago! Damn it! I'm so stupid!" she exclaimed, angry at herself for her mistake while still clutching the journal close to her body. "I need to see him tomorrow and apologize for what I did! I owe him that much at the very least!" she said, as she rubbed her eyes from the multitude of tears that had fallen from her eyes. She held the journal away from her chest as she stood up from the floor and returned it to the top of the pile of papers and notebooks.

She picked the stack up from the table, this time making sure not to drop anything as she walked into the sitting room. As she placed the stack on the coffee table, she looked around the room at all of the Professor's things that littered the floor. His shirt, pants and even his boxers were laying haphazardly on the floor. She pushed away the urge to blush as she walked over to his boxers and pants, picking them up of the floor; folding them over her right arm. She walked over to pick up his shirt next, taking a moment to breath in his scent that still hung onto the fabric.

"He always smelled so good," she said to the empty room as she stood up from the floor and began to fold his clothes neatly. "There we go! Everything is all properly set up for me to take back to him tomorrow morning!" she said, throwing her fist into the air victoriously before a thought hit her. "Oh! I hope I can find a spare bag to carry all of this in!" she said as she walked over to the mini bar in the hallway. She walked around to the back of it, bending down to search the drawers and cupboards underneath the counter top.

After a few moments of searching, she managed to find a cloth bag, big enough to hold all of his belongings. "Awesome! This will do just fine!" she said happily as she pulled the bag out from the cupboard before heading back over to the piles of the Professor's things. She began to place his papers inside the bag first, placing a longing look at the journal sitting on top of the stack.

"Maybe I should go see him tonight?" she said thoughtfully. "No, I shouldn't. He's probably asleep right now. Plus I think he'd be more upset with me if I just showed up out of the blue in the middle of the night. Maybe I could call him?" she said to herself before she noticed his Holo Caster sitting on the floor nearby. She bent down to pick it up as she said to herself once more, "Well damn it. I guess I'll just have to sleep on it for the night." She grabbed his clothes on the table next to the bag, placing them inside it before patting the stack with the Professor's Holo Caster on top of it all.

She took one last look at the Professor's things before heading off to the bedroom. _'I will make things right between us. I know now that I'm the one at fault for this. I love him so much and I'd give anything to do all of the things he cried out to me earlier,' _she thought as she turned out the lights in the room and crawled into the large plush bed; settling herself under the blankets comfortingly.

The next morning came a few hours later with the sunlight pouring into the bedroom window, falling just shy of the head of the bed. A couple Pidgey's and Fletchling's chirping happily outside the window, causing Serena to roll over groggily in the bed; nearly falling out of it. She caught herself before she hit the floor, sitting up on the edge of the bed as her heart beat uncontrollably in her chest at the sudden feeling of falling. She took a moment to quell her heart's pace before she realized what day it was; it's finally her eighteenth birthday.

"YAY! I'm so happy it's my birthday!" she exclaimed excitedly as she flipped the blanket's off of her body. She began to race around the room to gather up her clothes and the towel she used the night before while humming happily to herself. She then ran into the bathroom, had a quick bath, making sure she's one hundred percent clean for the day, drying herself off before getting dressed into her everyday attire. She wore a striped bra with a matching pair of panties her purple shirt with it's matching scarf, a short black denim skirt with her long black tights. She pulled her black riding boots on, zipping up their zippers before placing her black felt hat on her head. She looked herself over proudly in the bathroom mirror before thinking, _'I hope he likes what he sees today! I'm not going to leave his lab until he accepts my apology either!'_

She walked into the sitting room, slinging her purple strappy purse over her right shoulder. She grabbed the cloth bag full of the Professor's stuff before heading out of the hotel room. As she walked down the hallway towards the elevator, she felt very confident and happy as she seemed to bounce with each step she took. She pressed the button for the elevator which opened instantaneously for her to step into. After a quick trip down to the ground floor, the doors of the elevator opened up letting her off in the lobby. As she walked through the lobby, uncaring of any it's snooty occupants, she felt her heart begin to quicken as she neared the door to the hotel.

After a quick cab ride to the Professor's lab, Serena paid the cab driver the faire before bouncing happily out of the cab as she stared at the large building in front of her admiringly. _'This is where the love of my life works. Alright! It's time to win him back!'_ she thought as she walked inside the lab, brimming with confidence.

She made quick work of walking through the lobby, saying a hearty and happy hello to the receptionist before pressing the button for the elevator. As she stepped onto the elevator, pressing the button for the third floor, her heart beat so fast inside her chest that she thought it was going to leap out through her throat. Every nerve in her body sat up on edge as she suddenly felt nervous; reminding her of the first time she saw him after her confession. _'That was one AWKWARD visit! I think we didn't know if we were going to kiss again, or just have an honest conversation! At least we chose the latter of the two scenarios, but I bet he wanted to kiss me anyway. Because I sure as hell wanted to kiss him again too!'_ she thought before the elevator came to a stop on the third floor.

As the elevator cab door opened up Serena heard the sounds of two male voices and a female voice arguing in the room nearby. "Sounds lively in here!" she said, stepping out of the elevator's cab, before the door closed itself, as she heard the voices cease their arguing at the sound of her voice.

"Oh! Serena! Long time, no see sweetheart!" said a happy female voice Serena knew belonged to the Professor's long time assistant Sophie.

"Sophie! My goodness! It certainly has been a long time eh?" Serena said as she ran over to the tall, beautiful woman; glomping her into a hearty, friendly hug. But as soon as she made contact with the woman with the long dark blue hair and bright steel blue eyes, she pulled herself away bashfully as she brought her right hand up to scratch at the back of her head. "Oh I'm sorry! I forgot that I have to mind the bump!" she said, pointing to Sophie's middle before looking at her friend in awe. "WOW! You've gotten so big now! How many weeks do you have left?!" she asked, surprise laced in her voice while it was Sophie's turn to scratch at the back of her head bashfully.

While Serena and Sophie had their conversation, the Professor, Lysandre and Diantha walked out of the Professor's office to see the two women giggling happily to one another. Lysandre and Diantha watched Serena proudly as the girl seemed to ask her friend if she could feel the baby kick; which Sophie allowed happily. The Professor was at first surprised to see his beloved, before feeling suddenly annoyed with her for being there.

"Come on Augustine! Get a grip on yourself, ok? I told you why she had to keep me a secret from both of you, so the least you can do is stop being so irrationally pissed off at her and love her like you truly want to," Lysandre said in a whisper, elbowing his friend in the ribs, before pointing between his friend and Diantha standing next to the Professor's left side.

"Lysandre is right Augustine! She most likely feels terrible for having to keep our friend a secret from us until now, so please don't break her heart for something so stupid," Diantha said, clapping her hand on his left shoulder while throwing him a look that said 'screw this up and I'll kill you'. She threw a silent look to Lysandre as if saying 'lets go' as Lysandre nodded happily back to her before turning his attention to his friend.

"Remember what we said Augustine! We'll be a Holo Caster call away if you need us!" he said before grabbing his friend by his shoulders, pulling him in for a friendly hug. "And don't you EVER hurt that girl! Or so help me, Diantha and I will end you if you do," he said to the Professor's ear as the Professor looked over to Diantha from over Lysandre's shoulder. He noticed her eyeing him thoughtfully before he noticed Serena and Sophie were watching them. Sophie's face flared up at seeing the two grown men hugging while Serena smiled at them, to which the Professor thought he saw a tear fall from her right eye.

The Professor returned his friend's hug, feeling happy at being able to have his friend back in his life before the two men pulled away from each other. Lysandre clapped a hand on the Professor's right shoulder, pointing at him thoughtfully before turning his attention to Diantha. He offered her his left arm in a gentlemanly way, causing the beautiful actress to blush uncontrollably. _'Does she have a thing for him? Well I guess that's bound to happen, they have been friends for a long time. I can't believe I got that one wrong. I just wonder what will happen now with Diantha and Siebold? Will she dump him for Lysandre? This will be quite interesting to watch, that's for sure,' _Serena thought to herself as she watched the happy, beautiful couple walk past her, as they pressed the button for the elevator.

They both stepped into the elevator's cab, flashing a happy and thoughtful look to Serena as Sophie exclaimed, "OH! I need to use the bathroom! In case I don't see you before you leave Serena, here! Jeremy and I hope you like it!" The very pregnant woman held out a small box with a cutely tied ribbon on it as she said, "Happy birthday kiddo! Now if you'll excuse me, I think someone just rolled over onto my bladder!" Sophie said, practically shoving the gift into Serena's right hand before bolting off to the elevator; luckily getting inside it before the door closed itself once again.

A strong, heavy, awkward silence hung in the air around the couple in the room as they each tried to think of something to say. The Professor took a moment to scratch the back of his head awkwardly as he looked around the room before settling his gaze on the cloth bag sitting on the floor next to her. "What's in the bag?" he asked, pointing to it as she looked down to the bag in question.

Serena picked up the bag in both hands, holding them out to him as she replied, "Oh…these are your belongings…you know, the ones you 'voluntarily' left over at the hotel in the penthouse suite." She kept her face hidden from him, basically using her arms to shield herself from him.

As he began to walk towards her, accepting the bag she held out, she dropped it to the ground while following it herself. She sat on her knees, crying uncontrollably as he watched her in confusion. "I'M SORRY FOR KEEPING LYSANDRE FROM YOU! I KNOW IT WAS WRONG! I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU THE VERY SAME DAY I SAVED HIM FROM THAT DAMN PIT! BUT I DIDN'T! I…COULDN'T…I JUST HOPE THAT WHAT EVER HE TOLD YOU AND DIANTHA EARLIER WILL BE ENOUGH! AND I HOPE MY APOLOGY RIGHT NOW ISN'T FOR NOTHING!" she exclaimed, holding herself while continuing to cry without stopping; or knowing what was happening around her.

The Professor knelt down to the floor in front of her, his heart breaking at watching her cry as he thought about what he should do next. _'She sorry for what she's done, that's as plain as day now. I need to hold her, tell her I love her. But first I need to know something,'_ he thought as he held out his right hand to her, reaching out to brush a tear off her face. She shuttered at his touch, looking to him with her waterlogged eyes as he cupped her face in his hand for a quick moment; smiling warmly to her. When he tried to pull away, she panicked as she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it back to cup her face for a bit longer.

"Oh Augustine, I'm so sorry. Please all I want to do is love you and be loved by you. I don't want us to be mad at each other anymore. I love you Augustine! Do you…do you still love me?" she asked, looking to him searching his eyes for a sign, any sign that he still felt the same for her.

He smiled warmly to her, trailing his hand down from her face to her neck tie, leaving his hand hanging there for a moment before reaching down to her left hand. "I love you too Serena. And I accept your apology. I'm also grateful that you brought my things back to me. I'd be lost with out you, you know," he said, flashing a charming smile to her before lacing his fingers around the palm of her hand. He stood up from the floor of his lab, pulling her up onto her feet as he said, "There is something I wish to discuss with you. Something…urgent…and I want you to be honest with me, ok?"

Serena stood up with him, wiping her face with her free hand as she simply nodded her answer; allowing him to lead her back to his office. Once inside his office, he let go of her hand as she walked over to his desk, placing the bag next to his desk while placing her hat on top of it; letting her purse settle next to the cloth bag. She looked over to the wall that divided his office from the rest of his lab and noticed something that made her heart soar. It was a picture of the two of them in Couriway Town, after their battle together; which she won. It sat in an ornate metallic blue frame, and looked strange in contrast to the other paintings on the wall; all of which were of various Pokemon. In the picture she was standing next to him with her arms in front of her bashfully; looking down at the ground and not up at the cameraman. The Professor in the picture on the other hand had an arm around her, pressing his body close to hers while posing happily; his free hand sporting a 'peace' sign.

"You still have this picture?" she asked, pointing to the picture as her face flushed up at the memory of that day.

"Yes of course! It holds a great memory of mine. You were so nervous when you asked me. I thought you were going to run away with your face in your hands!" he said, chuckling heartily as he locked the door behind him before walking over to her side in front of his desk.

She scowled at him for a moment before looking back at the picture on the wall as she said, "Yeah well I really liked the way the waterfalls looked and I really wanted to have a memorable picture of them with you there."

"Oh so I was just the ornament for your picture?" he asked, planting a playful pout on his face as she looked to him, blushing indignantly before stomping her foot on the floor.

"No you weren't! I just…I…ughhhh! Forget it!" she exclaimed angrily as he began to chuckle at her again. "What is this 'urgent' thing you wanted to talk to me about anyway?! Is it how pathetic I am for having a crush on you two years ago?!" she said without thinking, crossing her arms across her chest angrily all the while.

He slammed his hand down on his desk suddenly, as he angrily said, "Non! I never once thought your crush on me was 'pathetic'! No, the 'urgent thing' is something that's bothering me about your closeness with Lysandre. He told me everything that happened, from the day you saved him up until now. He told me that you have been visiting him on and off in between your time at the Pokemon League and I want to know one important thing. The one thing he didn't answer to me directly." He moved himself closer to her body, pushing her up against the edge of the desk, practically towering himself over her; his arms framing her in so she had no where to run to.

Her breath hitched in her throat as he leaned his forehead against hers, his gray-blue eyes searching her emerald green ones for the answers he's looking for. "W…what is that 'one thing?" she asked, holding herself back as she inhaled his scent; a cross between lavender and musty old research books. She felt scared suddenly as his gaze intensified, their lips so dangerously close it took everything inside her to not kiss him; make him forget what he wanted and just take her where they stood. But he kept his lips away from hers, no matter how close they truly were, he kept them away from her teasingly.

"I want to know, in all that time, did he ever touch you?" he asked finally, huskily and mildly angry; baring his teeth for a moment while waiting for her reply. He grabbed her wrists, pressing his body closer to her as she felt as though she was going to fall back onto his desk.

Even though she felt scared at his sudden strength, which she didn't even know he could ever muster, she thought about his question. "W…well there was that one time. Back when I originally saved him, pulling him out of that pit. He lost his footing and accidentally grabbed my breast. But I slapped him away so hard it knocked him out for a few hours! When he came too he asked me why I reacted like I did and I told him that the only man I ever want to touch me, on purpose or accidentally, to be…you, Augustine," she said, looking to him innocently as he continued to stare at her heatedly.

He felt his body shutter at hearing her tell him that, as he eased his grip on her wrists. He brought his hands down to just under her buttocks, picking her up with ease and dropped her down on his desk. She felt her buttocks slap against the hard wood of his desk before her eyes fluttered suddenly as he finally kissed her. She let out a moan as he continued to kiss her with so much fever that she thought she was going to faint from the sudden amount of pressure he was placing on her. His tongue pierced through her lips, wrestling with hers as his right hand untied the tie from around her neck; throwing it across the room.

He pulled away first, his breath ragged from kissing her so dramatically before saying, "I can't believe he touched you."

She tried to level out her breathing as she said, "I…it was a an accident…please…don't be…jealous of him…I don't want him…I want you…I've always wanted you…". She brought her arms up to his neck, letting her hands drape down languidly for a moment behind his head before her right hand tangled with his hair. She pulled him down to kiss her again, while he shifted his weight onto his left hand. He used his right hand to run blazing trails up and down the side of her body, down the curve of her hips then back up her front before resting on the swell of her left breast.

He pulled away from her again, looking to her with hazy, lust filled eyes before saying, "That's all I wanted to hear, mon amour." His right hand clamped down on her breast while he dipped his mouth to her neck, causing her to throw her head back. She felt a wetness build up inside her panties as he continued to suck and nibble on her while his right hand stopped grabbing her breast and quickly worked its way down to the hem of her shirt. He flipped it up with the initial intent to have a view of just her breasts. But as soon as it was up resting under her chin, she moved her hands deftly around him to flip her shirt off completely. She threw her shirt into a heap across the room to join her scarf while he took in her features in awe.

"Oh, mon dieu! Serena, tu es incroyable!" he said huskily as she put her right leg up onto the desk suggestively; trying her best to seduce him.

"I'm wearing matching panties too. Would you like to see them?" she said, her voice raspy from their kissing while her fingers trailed themselves down her leg, flipping her skirt up before resting on special spot between her legs.

He grabbed her hand, pulling it away from herself while also repositioning her leg so that it rested back down properly. He chuckled at her while saying, "You're always so good at your attempts to seduce me. But we're not going to have sex right now."

She looked at him feeling hurt and annoyed at him before whining, "I thought you were going to make me yours right here! Why aren't we going to have sex right now?!"

He continued to chuckle at her, as his right hand trailed itself across her exposed skin as he rested his forehead to hers once again. "I want to mark you as mine. Pleasure you so much that you will always want me and no one else. I will make you mine later tonight, but for now let me finger fuck you until you realize how much it pains me to know that Lysandre touched you before I ever could," he said, the swear word escaping his mouth without any coherent thought behind it.

"I told you it was an accident!" she said indignantly before he crushed his lips to hers again. He kissed her again, just as dramatically as before, while his left hand joined his right hand behind her back to unhook her bra. He tore the bra off of her body, throwing it dramatically behind him to join the rest of her outfit. He pulled away from her mouth, and before she could whine at him again, he dipped his head down to her breasts. He took in one of her nipples in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it as he put his weight back on his left hand on his desk.

"Au…Augustine…mmmm," she managed to say as she threw her head back again while running her right hand through his hair.

He pulled his face away from her breasts, his right hand dipping down under her skirt to cup her fully clothed pussy before whispering huskily in her ear, "I want you, Serena. I haven't ever wanted anyone else but you. I know you feel the same way, I can feel your heat and wetness in my hand right now." He felt her body shiver at his words as he continued, "I'm going to work you over now, ok?"

She managed to nod her approval to him as she felt him unzip her skirt just enough so he can fit his hand underneath it, her tights and her panties. His thumb made quick work of her clit, rubbing circles around it softly. "Please Augustine…rub harder…" she managed to squeak out as he obliged his lover, rubbing her harder as she hissed in a breath; she could feel her release come to her already. _'No! I don't want to finish now! I still want to feel him inside me!' _she thought, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to fight back her climax.

The Professor watched her cringe, feeling her body tighten up as he chuckled throatily. "Are you almost there already, ma cherie?" he asked to her ear as she nodded bashfully against the side of his head. He stopped rubbing at her clit while looking into her defeated stare before saying, "My dearest Serena, you really do love me don't you?" Again she nodded bashfully as he smiled warmly to her without removing his gaze from hers.

"I do Augustine! Please…don't stop…I want you…I…" she said but was cut short by his right index finger on her lips as he shushed at her.

"I know, mon amour, I know. I'm going to put one finger inside you now. Please, if it hurts you, please tell me. The last thing I want to do is hurt you," he said, keeping his index finger on her lips for a moment while she nodded silently; bucking her hips to him in approval. He chuckled at her one last time before removing his finger from her lips, trailing it slowly down her front before slipping his whole hand back underneath her undergarments.

"Ohhhhh!" she said as he slipped his index finger slowly inside her entrance, knuckle by knuckle before pulling it out again to let her settle herself. "Did that hurt?" he asked huskily as he slapped himself mentally for stopping; she felt so tight against his finger.

She looked at him longingly, saying huskily, "N…no…it…didn't…please Augustine…do that again…but this time…put two fingers inside me…and please…". She grabbed the lapels of his shirt, pulling his face close to her face as she finished, "…please don't stop!" She kissed him deeply as he obliged her wish, plunging two fingers inside her pussy. Slowly he went deeper inside her as they continued to kiss, stopping every now and then to breath and moan. His thumb began to rub her clit again as his fingers pumped harder and faster inside her.

'_This feels so good and I'm only finger fucking her! She's so tight! I can't wait to fuck her later! Mmmm Serena! What I'd give to do so now! But I mustn't! I don't want to make her mine on something so uncomfortable. I'll have her later, in my loft. Make her squeal like this all over again,' _he thought as he felt the muscles inside her tighten up, preparing for her release to come.

"Serena, you're so beautiful. When you're ready, cum on my fingers. I want to feel you relinquish yourself to me," he said to her as he watched her beautiful face look to him, dazed and lust filled eyes watching his handsome face while nodding quickly in response.

"Ohhhh Augustine! I…I…OH J'AIME TOI AUGUSTINE!" she exclaimed suddenly as her release hit her in waves, with the first being the strongest. He groaned loudly after hearing her speak his native tongue before sucking hard on her neck as he felt her body shuttering out her climax.

As the final wave of her release hit her, he pulled his fingers out of her pussy, slowly to give her one last tease before removing them from the inside of her undergarments. He flashed her a devious smile as he brought his fingers, slick from her release up to his mouth as he sucked them clean. She watched him bashfully before innocently asking, "Doesn't that taste bad?" He chuckled heartily causing her to angrily stand up in front of him, readjusting her panties and tights before zipping up her skirt. "It was just an innocent question, no need for you to laugh at me!" she said huffily, folding her arms across her chest.

"Je suis desole Serena! You're right, I shouldn't be laughing at you. But no, it doesn't taste bad at all. In fact it tastes sweet. Almost like a Lumiose Galette!" he said, smiling sweetly to her as she turned her head and scoffed at him.

"A…at least your sorry for that, I guess that's ok," she said as a blush crept over her face while averting her gaze from him.

He placed his right hand under her chin, turning her face to look at him while saying, "J'aime toi aussi Serena, ma petite chou. It was nice to hear you speak my language when you finished on my fingers." The blush on her face intensified, consuming the entirety of her porcelain-like skin as he smiled warmly to her. "OH! It's a good thing you wear that scarf of yours with your current outfit! It seems I left quite the mark on your neck!" he said, half surprised, half admirably as he looked at his handy work.

He thought she was going to panic and freak out at her but instead, she grabbed hold of his lapels one more time and pulled him down to kiss her sweetly. She pulled away first, smiling happily to him simply before walking over to retrieve the rest of her outfit. She put her bra on first, adjusting her 'girls' to where they needed to sit within it before slinging her shirt on over her head. "I'm glad we made up as quickly as we did. I don't know if I could ever handle not be able to talk to you if we had a real fight," she said as she picked up her scarf. She walked over to the side of his desk, where she left her hat and purse earlier, placed the scarf inside her purse, before placing her had back on her head.

"I'm glad too. I honestly didn't enjoy being upset with you," he said, walking over behind her, wrapping his arms around her petite form as she eased backward into his embrace. "You're not going to wear your scarf?" he asked innocently.

"No, I want everyone to know that I belong to you, Professor Augustine Sycamore. MY Professor! No one else can have you right?" she said, ending her reply with a question of her own.

He rested his chin on top of her hat, chuckling at her before replying, "That's right, ma petite chou. I belong to you until the day I die."

She turned to face him, smiling sweetly before saying, "And I belong to you too. But is it ok if I go visit my friends now?"

"Of course you may. Actually, I think I'll join you," he said before his Holo Caster began to ring incessantly from the inside of the cloth bag. "It's Sina and Dexio. Excuse moi Serena but I need to take this call. I'll meet up with you and your friends later," he said as he picked up the Holo Caster and bashfully smiled to her.

"Alright, but only if you promise me you will," she said as she hoisted her purse over her shoulder while leaving his office.

"I promise, mon amour," he said, walking her to the door, unlocking it for her before pulling her to kiss him one last time. "Oh and before I forget, Bonne Fete Ma Cherie," he said after pulling away from her lips, smiling sweetly to her as she flashed him a smile back, heading off to the elevator to leave his lab happier than she had ever been in her life.


End file.
